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While working for Ove Arup, Kemp researched I.K. Brunel and the construction of the Renkioi Hospital during the Crimean War in Turkey. Brunel also surveyed the Great Western Railway, where he suggested using cable technology to navigate steep passages that the rail cars might not be able to mount unassisted. The cable-based incline technology was fundamental in designing two Pittsburgh inclines. While serving on the ASCE's Committee for the History and Heritage of American Civil Engineering, Kemp deliberated about granting National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark status to the inclines. The box includes materials from both parts of Kemp's career, including handwritten notes, typewritten notes, articles, correspondence, Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks nomination forms, brochures, clippings, records from the state legislature, reports, scholarly journal articles and photographic prints. The box also includes facsimiles of the following: correspondence, scholarly journal articles, clippings, press releases, book excerpts, budget lists, and engineering drawings. Subjects include I.K. Brunel, Renkioi Hospital, canal tunnels, British canals (especially the Huddersfield Narrow Canal), and the Monongahela and Duquesne Inclines in Pittsburgh. The following oversize items were moved to Map Cabinet 12, Drawer 15, Folder 3: 55 sheets of facsimile report (undated), 1 map (undated), 1 clipping (1983), and 1 engineering drawing (1857).

Kemp conducted research on engineers who designed famous suspension bridges in preparation for several publications, including the lecture and article, "James Finley and the Origins of the Modern Suspension Bridge." He also advised Don Sayenga's research and managed applications to the West Virginia Academy of Civil Engineers. The box includes typed and handwritten notes, applications, correspondence and transcripts of handwritten correspondence. The box also includes facsimiles of the following: news clippings, correspondence, and book excerpts. Subjects include James Finley; Charles Ellet Jr.; John A. Roebling; John Templeton; the Wheeling Suspension Bridge in Wheeling, West Virginia; the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge in Niagara Falls, New York; Jacob's Creek Bridge in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania; Canadian engineers; bridges of Pennsylvania and Western Maryland; and policies across the civil engineering academic community.

The USACE appointed Kemp to document locks and dams along the Kanawha River and nominate them for the NRHP. Kemp's research culminated in the book, The Great Kanawha Navigation. This box contains materials from his research, including facsimile articles, reports, photos, drawings, correspondence, a student thesis, etc. Subjects include movable dams, locks and dams of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Addison M. Scott, the Kanawha River, Kanawha regional history, Captain F.W. Altstaetter, etc. Highlights include data about coal and coke shipments and NRHP nomination forms for the London Locks and Dam and Gallipolis Locks and Dam. The following items were moved to Map Cabinet 12, Drawer 1, Folder 6: twelve engineering drawings (1909, 1932, undated), and two facsimile photographic prints (undated).

Kemp wrote the article "The Little Kanawha Navigation" for the journal Canal History and Technology Proceedings. This box contains reseasrch materials, including facsimile reports, correspondence, articles, book excerpts, magazines, clippings, bibliographies, photos, handwritten notes, oral history transcriptions, cost sheets, etc. Subjects include the Little Kanawha Navigation, river traffic, boats, shipping, Gilmer County history, Burning Springs, Burnsville Dam, inland waterways, locks, covered bridges, the West Virginia General Assembly, etc. Highlights include 1907 freight ticket and steam vessel inspection application, a 1908 correspondence regarding the steamboat inspection service, and Larry Sypolt's list of Little Kanawha boats. The following items were moved to Map Cabinet 12, Drawer 2, Folder 2-3: thirty-seven facsimile clippings (1860-1930, 1987), nine pages of facsimile steamboat shipping bills (1874-1899, two facsimiles of Hardesty's Encyclopedia entries for Kanawha, Calhoun, and Wirt Counties (1889), four facsimile maps (1937, 2003, undated), facsimile data sheets and inspection certificates (1876), and one brochure (1975).

Kemp wrote the article "The Little Kanawha Navigation" for the journal Canal History and Technology Proceedings. This box contains research materials, including mostly facsimile clippings, reports, handwritten correspondence, allotments, operational expenses, river traffic data, pamphlets, itineraries, magazines, grant applications, research notes, photographs, government documents etc. Subjects include USACE, Work Project Administration, Colonel Thomas Tavenner, Johnson Newlon Camden, Sam Hays, Little Kanawha Navigation, locks, the history of the Huntington District, Burnsville folk studies, Wirt County, steamboats, oil springs, the Flood Control Act of 1936. Highlights include West Virginia Division of Highways reports on Creston and Little Kanawha River locks, shipping tickets, toll notes, and bound copies of the United States Congressional Series Set, dated between 1839 and 1880. The following items were moved to Map Cabinet 12, Drawer 2, Folder 4: approximately fifty sheets of facsimile newspapers (1865-1984), two facsimile maps (undated), and The River-The West Virginia Hillbilly Publication (1976).

Kemp wrote the article "The Little Kanawha Navigation" for the journal Canal History and Technology Proceedings. This box contains his research materials, including photos, drawings, and illustrations from the Cam DePue Collection. Includes slides, negatives, facsimile shipping cost sheets, a book, facsimile maps, correspondence, and bound copies of the United States Congressional Series Set. Subjects include boats and locks on the Little Kanawha River, the United States Geological Survey, water supply of the Ohio River Basin, and reservoirs. Highlights include early twentieth century postcards of the Little Kanawha River, pamphlets on poplar lumber inspection, early twentieth century payroll checks and invoices from work on railroads. The following oversize items were moved to Box 342: three maps (1930), six engineering drawings (1930).

Kemp wrote the article "The Little Kanawha Navigation" for the journal Canal History and Technology Proceedings. This box includes facsimile reports, Senate Resolutions, correspondence, data sheets, cost estimates, photos, and a handwritten note. Subjects include the Little Kanawha, the geology of the west fork of the Little Kanawha, power development, reservoirs, flood protection, oil, coal, salt, iron, etc.

Kemp researched the Strauss lift bridge (known as 18th Street Lift Bridge) on the Louisville and Portland Canal in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky in 1992. The box includes the original bibliographies and facsimile documents such as bound copies of the United States Congressional Series Set, scrapbooks, book excerpts, articles, maps, engineering drawings, etc. Subjects include Louisville, the Louisville and Portland Canal, the Ohio River, the Ohio River Valley, the Louisville Cement Company and construction on the Louisville and Portland Canal. Highlights include facsimile reports from the USACE. The following oversize materials were moved to Map Cabinet 12, Drawer 4, Drawer 5: Two sheets of engineering drawings (1856), ten maps (1839-1886 and undated).

Kemp's student Thomas Hahn published on the C&O Canal. Includes books and bound copies of the United States Congressional Series Set. Subjects include people involved in the C&O Canal, commerce on waterways, Monongahela River improvements, the Louisville and Portland Canal, the B&O Railroad, etc.