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Images depicting the documentation of actions of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, recording decisions made during Commission meetings. Topics include: resolutions; legal issues; expansions, including the Philadelphia, more Western, Delaware River, and Northeastern Extension; accounting procedures; bonds; budgets; contracts; employee listings with salary; and billboards. Each folder also contains material relevant to the meeting, such as fare charts and correspondence with contractors or other state agencies, such as Bureau of Public Roads. To follow a specific topic's progression, use the Meeting Minute Book Index series {#29.76}. Notable items include a letter Mrs. Eberly wrote to Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Chair Jones on October 1, 1940, regarding the opening of the turnpike. The Eberly Farm was the location of the groundbreaking for the Original Section attended by the Eberly Family (on microfilm roll 7570). Disclaimer: Not all records in this collection are digitized. Please visit the PA State Archives to see the rest of the collection. less

This collection contains original drawings executed in the field relating to rights-of-way and grading of the Original Section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and its subsequent extensions. more The majority are rendered in pencil or pen on sheets of engineering graph paper, and measure on average 32" x 38 1/4". Headings for either the Department of Transportation or the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission are printed on the tops of the various pages. Most drawings are grouped in sets, with each set pertaining to a specific location along the Turnpike's route. Data varies from sheet to sheet, and may include: final book number, county, district number, contract number, section number, route number, drawing number, and general descriptive information. Drawings are primarily cross sections with some construction plan and profile drawings. Typical subjects include: grading sections, channel changes, borrow pits, bridges, culverts, ramps, overpasses, road relocations, viaducts, interchanges, tunnels, tunnel approaches, toll plazas, service stations, and maintenance buildings. Microfilm rolls contain Bridge Unit drawings, construction drawings for various sections, tunnels, and affiliated turnpike structures. less

This collection contains notebooks executed in the field for the construction of the Turnpike, and is arranged by construction contract number, the volumes chronicle the planning more 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. Many of the notebooks contain the Resident Engineer's Sketchbooks which tracked progress of work in the field on contracts primarily focusing on structures, bridges, and calculations. less

Turnpike construction contracts organized by general files and specific contracts. Types of files include: materials documenting the planning, work to be completed, awarding of, and preparation more of contracts for distinct projects relative to the Turnpike and its extensions. Blueprints and diagrams of contract-related structures and material, contract copies and drafts, correspondence, cost and work estimates, field work diaries, material test sheets and results, notes relative to contracts and their specifications, and notices to bidders concerning contract specifications are examples of files included. Contracts for construction of the Tuscarora Tunnel No. 2, pavement repair, roadway lighting at the Harrisburg East Interchange, signage, and tile underdrain from the Ohio Line to Irwin Interchange can also be found. Images cover the Original Section and the Philadelphia Extension only. These contract files include: executed copy of contract, list of bidders, agreement, bonds, proofs of various types of insurance, claims, change orders, accidents, completion certificates, daily diaries of work, photographs, material tests, core boring tests, subcontractors, Board of Arbitration, testimony, turnpike employee field inspection notes, geology reports, surveys, and correspondence. Types of contract projects include: grading, drainage, structures, paving, tunnels, ventilation buildings, maintenance buildings, interchanges, toll booths, signage, traffic line markings, gas stations, and affiliated electrical, plumbing, and heating for buildings. Images are arranged by subject, then numerically by contract number. Microfilm rolls were filmed in order by contract number. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission was created in 1937 by the Pennsylvania State Legislature, Act No. 211, with the authority to construct, finance, operate, and maintain a toll highway. The Commission consists of five members, four of whom are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate for four-year terms. The fifth member of the Board is the Secretary of Transportation. The powers and duties of the Commission are executed through an executive director and various bureaus. less