New Deal Accomplishment: Over 4,400 miles of new or improved levees & embankments for flood protection


Above: In its 2025 Infrastructure Report, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave America's levee infrastructure a "D+" letter grade. The ASCE reports that levees protect 23 million Americans and $2 trillion worth of property, including 7 million buildings and 5 million acres of farm land, from flooding. The ASCE further notes that many levees are not up to current standards, have not undergone risk assessments, and will likely need $70 billion in funding to bring them "into a state of good repair" ("Levees," 2025 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, American Society of Civil Engineers, accessed August 24, 2025). As sea levels continue to rise, levees and similar structures (e.g., sea walls and diversion canals) will become increasingly important. Image above from the American Society of Civil Engineers, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.


Above: The description for this photograph, taken in Indianapolis, Indiana, on January 15, 1936, reads: "Marion County, project #65-0465. Fall Creek Levee Project - men working on grading... at 16th Street." Photo from the National Archives.


Above: In 1937-1938, the WPA helped reconstruct and enlarge the levee that protects Augusta, Georgia, from flooding. See, "The Levee," Historical Markers Database (accessed August 24, 2025). Photo from the National Archives.


Above: WPA workers construct an emergency levee to protect the nation's capital from an encroaching Potomac River, March 1936. Photo from the National Archives.


Above: "On the Levee," an oil painting by E. Herndon Smith (1891-1979), created while he was in the WPA, between 1935 and 1943. Image from the New York State Department of Health.

Holding the Line

Between 1934 and 1935, laborers in the Work Division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) constructed 2,161 miles of levees, and improved another 399 miles. And between 1935 and 1943, WPA workers constructed 591 miles of new levees and embankments, and improved another 1,083 miles. Young Americans also held the line against flooding, building 141 miles of new or expanded levees and embankments, and making improvements to another 41 miles, while enrolled in the New Deal's National Youth Administration (NYA).

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) engaged in a large amount of levee work too, but I'll leave that out of the cumulative numbers, since there is some work and statistical crossover between the various New Deal work and construction programs, and therefore leaving one of the agencies out--I usually leave out either CWA or FERA--helps keep the estimate conservative.

So, we can see that the New Deal constructed or improved over 4,400 miles of levees and embankments. Much of this work still exists today and still protects the lives and property of Americans.

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