Franklin Roosevelt became President at one of the most perilous times in the history of the United States. The economy was in ruins and twenty-five percent of working Americans couldn't find jobs. As quickly as possible he established the Works Progress Administration and Public Works Administration, along with others to build needed infrastructure and put living wages back in the hands of workers.
There are economists and historians who still argue that these programs didn't change the unemployment numbers significantly. They say that it took entry into World War II to put a definitive end to the Great Depression. Whatever the truth, these programs completely changed the mood of the country for the better. Even almost a hundred years after they began, Roosevelt's initiatives are still being felt.
One important project built by the WPA is what we call the Hoover Dam today. It was originally known as Boulder Dam, but was renamed in honor of our thirty-first President, Herbert Hoover. The dam took five years and a little over a million and half dollars to build. At the height of the building it employed twenty thousand workers. Today the dam is still considered one of the architectural wonders of the world and is one of America's most famous attractions.
One of Roosevelt's favorite projects was the Grand Coulee Dam. The idea that you could control the powerful Columbia River to the extent that it flooded the driest sections of Washington State, making agriculture viable and putting farmers back to work, delighted him. It took nine years and sixty-five million dollars to accomplish it, but Mr. Roosevelt got his wish. This huge project still stands as one of the biggest concrete structures in the world.
There is no more visited part in the United States than the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. About ten million visitors tour it every year. The Grand Canyon, at five million visitors a year, it is a distant second to the Smoky. The park covers almost nine hundred acres of Tennessee and North Carolina wilderness. UNESCO has recognized the park for its cultural significance.
Building an underwater tunnel was not a common thing in 1930s America. This was an idea born before the channel tunnel between England and France and the Boston Big Dig. The Lincoln Tunnel, begun in 1934, was not completed until 1957, but opened for business twenty years earlier. The mile and a half drive connects New Jersey and Manhattan and is traversed by over forty million vehicles every year.
The Triborough Bridge was a project begun in 1929 on Black Friday. It was put on hold until 1936 when the Roosevelt administration funded the project and set the WPA to work on it. The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, as it is known today, is a series of interconnecting bridges, approach roads, and a viaduct that connects citizens living in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens.
These are just a few examples of structures that resulted from the hard work of thousands of Americans with the help of government funding. It is hard to believe that the same could be accomplished today. Self-interest, special interest groups, and gridlock seem to be the order of the day in Washington now.
There are economists and historians who still argue that these programs didn't change the unemployment numbers significantly. They say that it took entry into World War II to put a definitive end to the Great Depression. Whatever the truth, these programs completely changed the mood of the country for the better. Even almost a hundred years after they began, Roosevelt's initiatives are still being felt.
One important project built by the WPA is what we call the Hoover Dam today. It was originally known as Boulder Dam, but was renamed in honor of our thirty-first President, Herbert Hoover. The dam took five years and a little over a million and half dollars to build. At the height of the building it employed twenty thousand workers. Today the dam is still considered one of the architectural wonders of the world and is one of America's most famous attractions.
One of Roosevelt's favorite projects was the Grand Coulee Dam. The idea that you could control the powerful Columbia River to the extent that it flooded the driest sections of Washington State, making agriculture viable and putting farmers back to work, delighted him. It took nine years and sixty-five million dollars to accomplish it, but Mr. Roosevelt got his wish. This huge project still stands as one of the biggest concrete structures in the world.
There is no more visited part in the United States than the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. About ten million visitors tour it every year. The Grand Canyon, at five million visitors a year, it is a distant second to the Smoky. The park covers almost nine hundred acres of Tennessee and North Carolina wilderness. UNESCO has recognized the park for its cultural significance.
Building an underwater tunnel was not a common thing in 1930s America. This was an idea born before the channel tunnel between England and France and the Boston Big Dig. The Lincoln Tunnel, begun in 1934, was not completed until 1957, but opened for business twenty years earlier. The mile and a half drive connects New Jersey and Manhattan and is traversed by over forty million vehicles every year.
The Triborough Bridge was a project begun in 1929 on Black Friday. It was put on hold until 1936 when the Roosevelt administration funded the project and set the WPA to work on it. The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, as it is known today, is a series of interconnecting bridges, approach roads, and a viaduct that connects citizens living in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens.
These are just a few examples of structures that resulted from the hard work of thousands of Americans with the help of government funding. It is hard to believe that the same could be accomplished today. Self-interest, special interest groups, and gridlock seem to be the order of the day in Washington now.
About the Author:
If you are searching for the facts about public works, come to our web pages online today. More details are available at http://www.thelaborcompliancemanagers.com now.