relief construction programmes

[pars]

Dear all!
What is the exact meaning of "relief construction programmes" in the following passage? It is from the book “Persian Gulf Command” by Ashley Jackson, p. 298.

Persian Gulf Command was a new type of command for the US Army – not at the forefront of the ‘war of guns’, but very much in the frontline of the war of military supply, ‘an essential element of victory’.14 Major General Donald H. Connolly assumed command on 1 October 1942. An engineer officer, he had directed the New Deal work relief construction programmes in Los Angeles during the Great Depression.

Thanks very much.

[Piscean]

Under the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerge...nstruction_Act, the American government put money into construction projects in order to provide work for the unemployed.

[GoesStation]

It doesn't say "relief construction programmes". It says "New Deal work relief construction programmes". These were construction programs (American spelling) that employed people through New Deal work relief plans like the Civilian Conservation Corps. "Relief" meant what "welfare" does now in this context.