Series 1. Research Files -- Bridges, 1735–2016

This sub-series includes the materials Kemp collected and produced while researching, documenting, and preserving bridges. Kemp demonstrated that bridges almost entirely determined the successful transportation of goods and people across bodies of water. He collected an abundance of material about the history and preservation of wooden covered bridges and wire suspension bridges, especially in West Virginia.

Formats include HAER nominations, NRHP nominations, correspondence, handwritten notes, draft reports, photographic prints, photographic contact sheets, photographic negatives, engineering drawings, maps, book excerpts, scholarly journal articles, computer-generated data, pamphlets, event programs, meeting minutes, newsletters, and clippings. Significant amounts of the material are facsimiles.

Subjects include aqueducts; the West Virginia Covered Bridge Survey that Kemp conducted for the West Virginia Division of Highways; Barrackville Covered Bridge over Buffalo Creek near Barrackville, Marion County, West Virginia; Philippi Covered Bridge over the Tygart Valley River in Philippi, Barbour County, West Virginia; Staats Mill Covered Bridge near Ripley, Jackson County, West Virginia; the Milton Covered Bridge over the Mud River in Milton, Cabell County, West Virginia; the Wheeling Suspension Bridge over the Ohio River in Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia; Bridgeport Lamp Chimney Company Bowstring Concrete Arch Bridge over Simpson Creek in Bridgeport, Harrison County, West Virginia; patenting bridge technology; the history of suspension bridges; the history of covered bridges; Charles Ellet Jr.; James Finley; John A. Roebling; Bollman truss bridges; Fink truss bridges; and Burr truss bridges.

Highlights include brochures of the IHTIA’s projects; correspondence on how to preserve the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, the assessment sheets used to assess the conditions of each covered bridge, and original metal from the Wheeling Suspension Bridge.

Research on bridges may also appear in the following series: “Kemp’s Library,” “Kemp’s Professional Writings,” “Kemp’s Other Professional Activities,” and “Oversize Materials.” Kemp also discusses his work on the Wheeling Suspension Bridge and covered bridges in his oral histories in the series “Oral Histories.” Research on bridges may also appear in the following sub-series within the series “Research Files”: “Industrial structures;” “Building materials;” and “Engineers, the history of engineering, and general historical topics.”