I've known for sometime that our nation has not maintained or upgraded its infrastructure; I've read the occasional reports from civil engineering groups lamenting the sorry state of bridges and roads around the country, and as an architect, I've been through many schools in Maine to assess the needs and prepare requests for state funding. The collapse of the levees in New Orleans, and the failure of the I-35 bridge in St. Paul are just the tip of the ice berg.
And then the house of cards that was our economy collapsed as well, and it became clear to me that what we needed was a New New Deal, a massive influx of Federal spending on projects that need to done anyway, and also on new infrastructure that will provide a foundation for the economy for another 70 years and more.
The Rec Center in my town is to undergo a much needed renovation, and an article about it in the local paper mentioned that it was built by the WPA (I wrote about it here, What a real legacy looks like). I began to read more:
I called the historical societies in local towns and learned the Camden Hills State Park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). I learned that the runway at what is now called Bangor International Airport were extended by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). And then I happened upon an article in Invention and Technology entitled "Top 10 Projects That Transformed America," which included a reference to a book by Robert Leighninger, Long-Range Public Investment: The Forgotten Legacy of the New Deal, and new I must read it. (You'll find a good review of the book here, and also an op/ed piece that Mr. Leighninger wrote for the New York Times that was never published, but that he was kind enough to send to me, here.)
What I've learned from reading Leighninger's book is that the legacy of the New Deal programs is all about us, and is in fact an integral part of our economy today, seventy years later. The massive spending of the 1930's not only put many people to work, but allowed our nation to supply war materiel to the U.K. and other allies, and then to become the global economic engine of the post-war era and beyond.
And yet at this time when our nation hangs perilously close to financial ruin, our government chooses not to act as history has taught, but instead relies on a mix of ideologically driven tax cuts that are known to not stimulate the economy, and spending on projects that will not either nor repair and upgrade our infrastructure, while what our nation really needs is a large outlay on projects that will.
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So I come to the point of this diary, taken from Leighninger's book and published here with his permission, and that is to provide you a list of what was accomplished by the "alphabet soup" programs of the New Deal. And then I ask you to contact your local historical society and ask what the legacy is in your area, and add them to the comments.
Accomplishments of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Bridges: 46,854
Lodges and museums: 204
Historic structures restored: 3,980
Drinking fountains: 1,865
Fire lookout towers: 3,116
Wells and pumphouses: 8,065
Forest roads: 2,500 miles
Roads and truck trails: 7,442 miles
Cabins: 1,477
Bathhouses: 165
Large Dams: 197
Water supply lines: 5,000 miles
Fences: 27,191 miles
Fish rearing ponds: 4,622
Beaches improved: 3,462
Trees planted: 3 billion
Fires fought: 6.5 million days
Lives lost fighting fires: 47
(Sources: National Association of Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni, "Did You Know?" (Jefferson Barracks, Mo., NACCCA, n.d.); Alison T. Otis, William D. Honey, Thomas C Hogg, and Kimberly K. Larkin, The Forest Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1986), 19; Conrad Wirth, Parks, Politics, and People (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980), 145.)
Accomplishments of the Civil Works Administration (CWA)
New roads: 44,000 miles
Road repairs: 200,000 miles
Drainage and irrigation ditches: 9,000 miles
Levees: 2,000 miles
New water mains: 1,000 miles
Sanitary and storm sewers: 2,700 miles
Bridges: 7,000
Large culverts: 10,000
Sanitary privies: 150,000
Pumping stations: 400
Playgrounds: 2,000
Swimming pools: 350
Athletic fields: 4,000
Schools, new or improved: 4,000
Airports, new or improved: 1,000
(Sources: Harry Hopkins, Spedning to Save (New York: W. W. Norton, 1936), 121, 168; Bonnie Fox Scwartz, The Civil Works Administration, 1933-1934: The Business of Emergency Employment in the New Deal (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1984), 183.)
Contributions to civil infrastructure through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), 1935-43
Urban streets
Hard surfaces: 30,000 miles
Other: 37,000 miles
Sidewalks
New: 24,000 miles
Improved: 7,000 miles
Curbs
New: 25,000 miles
Improved: 3,000 miles
Road and street lighting
New: 838 miles
Improved: 1,641 miles
New traffic signs erected: 937,000
Rural roads
Hard surface: 57,000 miles
Other: 515,000 miles
Bridges, viaducts
New: 78,000
Improved: 46,000
Culverts
New: 29,805,000 linear feet
Improved: 3,288,000 linear feet
Roadside drainage ditches
New: 79,000 miles
Improved: 84,000 miles
Tunnels
Vehicular: 26
Pedetrian: 193
Railway, sewer, cattle underpasses: 800
Parks, new or improved: 8,000
Athletic fields, new or imporved: 5,600
Stadiums, grandstnads, new or improved: 3,300
Playgrounds, new or improved: 12,800
Schools
New: 5,900
Additions: 2,170
Renovated: 31,300
Libraries
New: 151
Additions: 67
Renovated: 856
Auditoriums, gymnasiums, recreation buildings
New: 9,300
Renovated: 5,800
Swimming pools: 900
Wading pools: 1,000
Skating rinks: 1,200
Ski jumps: 80
Golf courses
New: 2,800 holes
Improved: 5,000 holes
Band shells: 170
Hospitals
New: 226
Additions: 156
Renovated: 2,168
Office and administrative
Buildings: 6,400
New: 1,536
Additions: 323
Renovated: 4,524
Dormitories: 7,000
Storage buildings: 6,000
Armories
New: 400
Renovated: 500
Firehouses: 2,700
Jails and prisons: 760
Airports
New: 350
Enlarged: 700
Runways, new or improved: 5,925,000 linear feet
Taxiways: 1,129,000 linear feet
(Source: Federal Works Agency, Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-1943 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946), 50-52, 131-133.)
Physical infrastructure projects completed by the Public Works Administration (PWA) (federal and nonffederal)
Streets and highways: 11,428
Engineering structures
Bridges and viaducts: 388
Wharves, piers, docks: 115
Subways and tunnels: 14
Other: 137
Aviation projects
Airports: 384
Improvements to landing fields: 193
Other aids: 101
Railroads: 32
Sewer projects
Disposal plants: 894
Sanitary sewers: 535
Storm Sewers: 121
Combined sanitary and storm: 75
Garbage and rubbish disposal plants: 225
Water projects
Reservoirs: 203
Filtration plants: 119
Water mains: 290
Complete waterworks: 1,970
Electrical power projects
Electrical distribution systems: 92
Power Construction projects: 283
Gas Plants: 26
Water navigation aids
Channels and levees: 170
Dams and canals: 31
Locks: 35
Lighthouses: 212
Other: 293
Flood control
Channels: 21
Dams and canals: 181
Storage reservoirs: 26
Water power development: 26
Soil erosion: 96
Flood control: 25
Miscellaneous: 95
Game and fish protection: 193
Nonmilitary vessels: 100
Improvements to federal land: 285
Surveying and mapping: 610
(Source: Public Works Administration, America Builds: Te Record of the PWA (Washignton, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1939), tables 10, 11, 13, 19, and 20, 279-82, 288-91.)
Cultural infrastructure projects completed by the Public Works Administration (PWA) (federal and nonffederal)
Educational building projects
Primary/secondary schools: 6,656
College/university: 698
Other educational buildings: 86
Public libraries: 105
Courthouses and city halls: 659
Auditoriums and armories: 103
Post offices: 406
Penal institutions: 253
Social and recreational buildings: 159
Residential buildings: 558
Office and administrative buildings: 341
Warehouses, laboratories, shops: 761
Parks: 61
Swimming pools: 65
Fire and police stations: 128
Markets: 21
Abattoirs: 4
Farm buildings: 7
Miscellaneous: 756
(Source: Public Works Administration, America Builds: Te Record of the PWA (Washignton, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1939), tables 14, 19, and 20, 283, 288-9.)
Health projects completed by the Public Works Administration (PWA) (federal and nonfederal)
General Hospitals: 261
Tuberculosis hospitals: 134
Hospitals for epileptics: 12
Insane asylums: 205
Schools for the feeble-minded: 29
Homes for the aged: 40
Other hospital projects: 81
Federal hospitals and institutions: 151
Pest and disease control: 146
(Source: Public Works Administration, America Builds: Te Record of the PWA (Washignton, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1939), tables 12, and 20, 280, 290.)
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Leighinger provides a list of the 16 dams built by the TVA.
Rural Electrification Administration (Rural Utilities Service)
This is not mentioned in Leighninger's book, but the REA (created in 1935) was an important component of the New Deal (and one that received large support from those opposed to the New Deal). The REA helped proved power to nearly 300,000 homes, and this spurred private companies to extend their service to other rural areas and charge rates comparable to those charge in urban areas. This saw an increase of rural homes with electricity rise from ten percent in 1930 to over ninety percent tne years later (source: Wikipedia).