The Great Depression and USACE Civil Works Projects

BY USACE OFFICE OF HISTORY

Debates about federal stimulus efforts and infrastructure programs are not new. The Great Depression of the 1930s led to similar discussions and responses from the government. This severe and far-reaching economic crisis was a turning point for the country and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

Placing 60-inch pipe in position in a relocated sewer tunnel under the Los Angeles River, June 30, 1939.

OFFICE OF HISTORY HQUSACE

Seeing 15 million unemployed, Congress and the president intervened as never before to provide relief and economic stimulus, and USACE was well positioned to participate. Its decentralized structure already covered the entire country. Additionally, the engineers had been surveying dozens of waterways for potential improvement, culminating in a roster of “shovel ready” projects. Congress soon provided funds through emergency recovery acts.

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During the Depression, USACE maintained its traditional navigation missions, but it also shifted its Civil Works program toward multiple-purpose water resources projects, which could also provide hydropower, irrigation, or water supply. The Bonneville and Fort Peck Dams are such projects, and both employed tens of thousands.

Recent destructive floods moved Congress to accept federal responsibility for flood control and to assign the task to USACE. Army engineers also shifted to a comprehensive flood-control policy that embraced floodways, spillways, and reservoirs in addition to levees, and they undertook dozens of such projects, employing thousands. Many projects also evidenced a growing environmental awareness.

Laying riprap on the slope of the East Barre Dam in Vermont, Aug. 7, 1934.

OFFICE OF HISTORY HQUSACE

USACE’s adaptable administrative structure served it well during the tumult as it opened, closed, and rearranged divisions and districts as workload demanded. Also, the size of its officer corps and civilian workforce steadily increased as more projects were assigned.

Meeting the multifarious demands of its Civil Works mission during the 1930s enhanced USACE administrative and contracting skills and expanded its knowledge of the latest construction methods, giving USACE a solid foundation for managing the massive Military Construction program that followed U.S. entry into World War II. AE

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