Check out a new beta version of this site

Guide to the Allegheny County Department of Engineering and Construction 1900-1960

Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
Allegheny County Department of Engineering and Construction
Creator
Allegheny County (Pa.). Dept. of Engineering and Construction
Collection Number
MSS 791
Extent
139 linear feet (139 boxes)
Date
1900-1960
Abstract
The Allegheny County Department of Engineering and Construction, a division of the Department of Public Works (DPW), is responsible for the design and construction of the infrastructure projects in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. The records include contracts, blueprints, books, bids, and other materials, documenting projects undertaken by the Department.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
The guide to this collection was written by Dane Flansburgh.
Sponsor
This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.
Publisher
Heinz History Center
Address
1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

History

The Allegheny County Department of Engineering and Construction is a division of the Department of Public Works (DPW). Established as the office of County Engineer in 1873, the office was eventually integrated into Pittsburgh's DPW when it was created in 1924. The DPW was established to meet the high demand of new infrastructure in the City of Pittsburgh, and also to centralize and expand the functions of the County Engineer and the road commissioner.

Scope and Content Notes

The Allegheny County Department of Engineering and Construction Records provide details of projects undertaken by Department throughout Allegheny County. The records include contracts, blue prints, books, bids, and other materials. The information on the label may include the project title, the company that completed it, the year, and the region.

Most of the work is categorized as plumbing, electrical, mechanical, or general, though not all folders include a designation. The labels with dates indicate that the projects occurred in the first half of the 20th century.

Please contact the Heinz History Center's Library and Archives to see a complete inventory for this collection.

Series I: Airports, boxes 1-11.

The Airport records are housed in 11 boxes. They are arranged in numerical order by the stamp that is on each folder. All of the folders contain records on work completed at the Greater Pittsburgh (International) Airport or the Allegheny County Airport. Some of the projects include lengthening a runway, installing in-flight kitchens, expanding a terminal, and many others.

The information seen on the label includes the contract number, the project, which airport, and the company that completed the work. Some labels also include the FAA project numbers. There are no dates available. These folders are not to be confused with those in the Materials/Miscellaneous series that have a contract number that begins with "A" and have no relation to any of the airports.

Series II: Bridges, boxes 12-57

The records in the Bridge series are housed in 46 boxes and details projects on bridges in the area, ranging from cleaning and painting to adding new lighting fixtures. The series concludes with two boxes of loose engineering reports, blueprints, plans, and other documents. Some of the bridges included are the Liberty Bridge, the Hulton Bridge, and the Dravosburg Bridge.

All of the labels indicate the name and location of the bridge, the job type, and the company that carried out the work. Not all of them include dates, but the ones that are available indicate projects that the projects occurred from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Series III: Parks, boxes 58-62

This series focuses mostly on improvements made to North and South Parks, but also details work done at Boyce, Settler's Cabin, and a few other parks in the county. Some of the projects pertain to the improvement of swimming pools, hiking trails, tennis courts, and sewage treatment centers. Each folder includes a project number along with the type of work, location, and company. This series has no dates listed on the labels.

Series IV: Public Buildings, boxes 63-77

This series documents projects done to public buildings, including the Jones Law Building and Annex, various juvenile detention facilities, the Allegheny County Jail, County Court House, County Morgue, the County Warehouse, and various police and firefighter training centers and forensic labs.

Each folder includes the type of job, the location, the company, and some include project numbers; however, there are no dates listed.

Series V: Roads, boxes 78-130.

The Roads series is the largest in the collection with 53 boxes housing the materials. Some of the folders are not stamped; these are first in the collection and are separated based on their labels.

The unstamped folders numbered 1 through 448 include only the road and company names. The other folders include the project description, road, company, and year. Some of the projects involve grading and paving the berms, test borings, erecting guardrails, and putting up concrete barriers. The projects date from early 1900s to the 1960s, with the bulk occurring in the 1920s and 1940s. Most of the folders in this series are in extremely poor condition.

Series VI: Tunnels, boxes 131-133.

Most of the documentation in this series focuses on the Liberty Tunnels, but the records also shed light on work done on the West Park, Wabash, Armstrong, and Stowe Township Tunnels.

These labels indicate the task, the tunnel's name, and the company that completed the work. The labels that include dates show a range from 1935 to 1944.

Series VII: Materials and Miscellaneous, boxes 134-139.

This series is housed in six boxes and contains documentation of materials used in projects. The materials are often asphaltic concrete, trucks, or auto equipment. The folder labels detail provided materials, what company provided them, and the year. There is nothing to indicate for which project the materials were used.

The last section is very small and includes unstamped folders with labels that detail products, years, and companies, but no project information. This section also includes four Allegheny County development books and a folder of loose papers.

Arrangement

The Allegheny County Department of Engineering and Construction Records are housed in 139 boxes, and arranged in seven series. The series were created based on the information on the labels and the stamps found on the outside of some of the folders. These stamps (A, B, P, PS, T, and M) reference the general project type (A is for Airport, etc.) and are followed by a folder-specific number (A1080, for example). It should be noted that a portion of the folders in Series VII, Materials and Miscellaneous, have numbers beginning with "A," though they do not seem to pertain to airport-related projects.

  1. Boxes 1-11: Series I. Airports
  2. Boxes 12-57: Series II. Bridges
  3. Boxes 58-62: Series III. Parks
  4. Boxes 63-77: Series IV. Public Buildings
  5. Boxes 78-130: Series V. Road
  6. Boxes 131-133: Series VI. Tunnels
  7. Boxes 134-139: Series VII. Materials/Miscellaneous

Conditions Governing Access

None.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

from Allegheny County Department of Engineering and Construction in 1992.

Archives accession # 1994.0020

Preferred Citation

Allegheny County Department of Engineering and Construction, 1900-1960, MSS 791 , Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center

Processing Information

Preliminary processing by Dane Flansburgh on 06/05/12.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • Allegheny County (Pa.). Dept. of Engineering and Construction

    Geographic Names

    • Allegheny County (Pa.)

    Other Subjects

    • County Government—Pennsylvania--Allegheny County--Planning.
    • Construction—Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
    • Contracts—Pennsylvania--Allegheny County.
    • Bridges—Pennsylvania--Allegheny County.
    • Tunnels—Pennsylvania--Allegheny County.

Container List