Sketch Books, Construction Plans, Contract 1, Field Drawings, Inspector's Sketch Books, This Digital Object is provided in a collection that is included in POWER LIBRARY: Pennsylvania Photos and Documents, which is funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Department of Education., Notebooks executed in the field for the construction of the Turnpike. Arranged by construction contract number, the volumes chronicle the planning and construction of the Original Section, as well as many of the later extensions. Each field book is individually numbered, containing a wide variety of information such as diagrams, engineering measurements and data, notes, sketches, and weather conditions. The majority of the books come with an index card bearing the following information specific to each volume: county, division number, district number, dates, road section number, contract number, note taker, as well as a description of the book's contents. For example, the description of Book 262 in Box 163 reads: "Preliminary Alignment & Topo. Notes sta. 0+00 to 60+00 (29A); Tie in Control Points near sta. 29+00 (29A); Stream location in sta. 58+00 (29A)." Many of the microfilm rolls contain the Resident Engineer's Sketchbooks tracking progress of work in the field on contracts primarily focusing on structures, bridges, and calculations. Not all records in this collection are digitized. Please visit the PA State Archives to see the rest of the collection.
