Engineering Documents,, 1862-1926 and undated

Summary: Plans and records ofbridges proposed and/or built by Washington A. Roebling in his capacity as an independent civil engineer. The documents largely pertain to designs and estimates. Amount of material and format of documents vary, but can include notebooks, loose sketches, printed specifications, reports and contracts.

Several notebooks on the East River (Brooklyn) Bridge project were begun by John A. Roebling and continued by Washington A. Roebling. They include notes made on dimensions, construction materials, foundation structure and workers, as well as copies of letters sent and received concerning the bridge. Also, there are numerous specifications for the East River Bridge, most of which were written by Roebling; those after 1886 were written by C.C. Martin, who replaced him as Chief Engineer.

The vast majority of documents relate to the Brooklyn Bridge, including "Specifications for Steel Cable Wire for the East River Suspension Bridge" (1876); "Specifications for the Steel and Iron Work of the Suspended Superstructure of the East River Bridge" (1877); and "Pneumatic Tower Foundations of the East River Suspension Bridge" (1873). Documents present for other Roebling projects include plans or records for the Covington and Cincinnati Bridge, the Niagara Railway Suspension Bridge, the Camden Bridge (Benjamin Franklin Bridge) and the Hudson River Bridge (George Washington Bridge).

Oversize items are stored separately.