shovel-ready

Adjective

shovel-ready (comparative more shovel-ready, superlative most shovel-ready)

1. (Of a building project) ready for immediate commencement of excavation and construction.
   • LCDC officials emphasize that the need for shovel-ready industrial sites in this case outweighs the goal of preserving prime farmland.2003, Urban Land Institute, Urban Land, volume 62, numbers 7-12, page 44
   • With an eye to the imminent federal budget, Toronto business and civic leaders are set today to name $4.8-billion in "shovel-ready" projects that would stimulate the flagging local economy.2009 January 15, Jennifer Lewington, “Battle brews over ‘shovel ready’ projects”, in The Globe and Mail, Toronto, page A12
2. (broadly) Describing a project which is a candidate for economic stimulus spending, the one having a more immediate impact on the economy as opposed to the project requiring a great deal of time that must elapse for architecture, zoning, legal considerations or other factors before labor can be deployed on it.