Going Really Big The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is the centerpiece of Roosevelt's New Deal. It's nation-wide in scope, amounting to America's first big 'infrastructure' program. The government has subsidized canals and railroads in the past, but this is a much larger effort. WPA construction projects nearly double total federal spending.

	Concrete Monsters The biggest dams are all out west. Biggest of all is Hoover Dam, on the Colorado River (top left and right). Over 700 feet tall, it creates America's largest reservoir, which is the main source of irrigation for the American Southwest. The other two giants out west are built on the Columbia River, which separates Washington State from Oregon. Grand Coulee Dam is 550 feet tall, and is also built to provide irrigation and electrical power. Bonneville Dam (center bottom) is closer to the coast, and much lower.
	Huge TVA Footprint The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is created to build dams, and administer electrical power, over an extensive rural area that was previously almost without power. The Tennessee River receives water from many smaller sources in the Appalachian Mountains, to the east. To control flooding and provide power, 11 major dams are constructed on the Tennessee itself, and 14 smaller dams on tributaries. Utility poles are erected to finally bring electric power to millions of back-country farms.