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The USACE, New Orleans District appointed Kemp as the industrial archaeologist on the project to preserve the Bonnet Carré Spillway in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. Kemp evaluated whether the spillway should be nominated for the NRHP, and Kemp later published his research as the monograph, "Stemming the Tide: Design and Operation of the Bonnet Carré Spillway and Floodway" as part of the Essays in Public Works History series. The box includes handwritten notes, photographic prints, correspondence, travel ephemera, reports, newsletters, and brochures. The box also includes facsimiles of the following: budget lists, correspondence, engineering drawings, photographic prints, photograph logs, book excerpts, catalog records, contract agreements, bound copies of the United States Congressional Series Set, reports, and expense reports. Subjects include bridges; the construction of the Bonnet Carré Spillway; USACE, New Orleans District; the Illinois Central Railroad; flood control mechanisms in New Orleans; levees; hydraulic systems; mitigation of historic structures; and standards for the NRHP. The following oversize items were moved to Map Cabinet 12, Drawer 14, Folder 2: six engineering drawings (1929, 1986, and undated), and one brochure (1970).

Kemp collected books to aid in his research process. This box includes books and facsimile books on the subjects of coal and engineering.

Kemp researched the B&O Railroad when he was asked to consult on the railroad line. The box contains his research materials, including pamphlets, correspondence, magazines, typescripts, reports, newsletters, itineraries, historic landmark nomination applications, photographic prints, clippings, facsimile articles, etc. Subjects include the Benwood Bridge Centennial Celebration; the Fink Deck Truss Bridge in Lynchburg, VA; the Marion County Centennial, Grafton, WV; B&O railroad sheds; Albert Fink; the President Street Station; B&O at Cheat River Gorge; Rowlesburg - Tunnelton B&O Railroad District; the Kingwood Tunnel; the failure to preserve the Queen City Hotel in Cumberland, MD; the Wheeling Freight Station; etc. The following items were moved to Map Cabinet 12, Drawer 3, Folder 5: 1) Illustration of a bird's eye view of Bellaire, Ohio (1882); 2) Diagram (1893); 3) Facsimile clipping: Moundsville Echo (1975), Chessie System Railway map by Randy McNally (1973), clipping: Sunday Dominion Post, Taylor County News (1971); 4) clipping: New Station Bridge (undated), clipping (June, undated); 5) Wonderful WV magazine clipping: Rosby's Rock and B&O, a colorful history (undated), B&O RR Museum pamphlet (undated); 6) (3) Facsimile diagrams: east portal for Kingwood Tunnel, brick lining, ring stones, Old Kingwood Tunnel (1911-1934); 7) (5) clippings - Wheeling Freight Station (1975), Moundsville B&O (1975), Kemp at Wheeling City Hall (1974), Earl Core's Monongalia Story (1977-1978), (4) Facsimile clippings (undated); 8) Facsimile journal clipping; American Contract Journal (1885).

Kemp conducted research on the history of civil engineering and bridges, and he collaborated to publish information about the projects of the IHTIA. The box contains the materials from his research, including magazines, book excerpts, reports, photographic prints, articles, handwritten notes, correspondence, and brochures. The box also includes facsimiles of the following: photographic prints, correspondence, and engineering drawings. Subjects include West Virginia structures, wrought iron, bridges civil engineers, and progress in the civil engineering discipline. Highlights include project summaries of IHTIA preservation projects. The following oversized items were moved to Box 344: five brochures (undated).

Kemp maintained research files on bridge companies in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The box includes facsimile book excerpts, facsimile correspondence and facsimile handwritten notes. It also includes reports, engineering drawings and photographs. Subjects include bridge companies; concrete bridges; Spunky Bridge in Catoosa, Oklahoma; Phoenix Bridge in Eagle Rock, Virginia; and Luten Bridge Company. The following oversize item was moved to Box 342: 1 engineering drawing (undated). Two empty folders, "West Virginia Bridge Companies" and "Champion Bridge Companies—Wilmington, Ohio" were removed.

Kemp researched bridges across the United States as part of his restoration efforts and publications. The box includes facsimiles of the following: photographic prints, drawings, patent applications, and book excerpts. Also includes original photographs, slides, clippings and correspondence. Subjects include general bridges; covered bridges; mills; the patenting process for bridge technologies during the 1800s; Rideu Canal in Ottawa, Canada; St. Antonius de Padua Mission in Sacramento, California; Bridgeport Covered Bridge in Bridgeport, California; and buildings in Nevada City, California. The following oversized items were moved to Box 342: one clipping (1983), two engineering drawings (undated), and two sheets of facsimile book excerpts (undated).

Kemp conducted research on bridge patents. He may have been preparing for writing articles and books about bridge patents, including American Bridge Patents: The First Century (1790-1890). It includes correspondence, reports, floppy disks and facsimiles of the following: book excerpts, clippings, engineering drawings, and patent applications. Subjects include bridges, the patenting process, covered bridges, Burr truss bridges, bridge engineers and engineering developments. Correspondents include Richard Sanders Allen. The following oversized items were moved to Box 343: three sheets of a scholarly article (1857) and two sheets of engineering drawings (1857).

Materials were originally housed with Kemp's research on United States bridge patents, which may have been collected in preparation for articles and books including American Bridge Patents: The First Century (1790-1890). This box includes photographs, photo negatives, reports, and facsimile advertisements and directories. Subjects include bridges, the patenting process, patents housed at the Smithsonian, and bridge companies.

Kemp assisted in the transfer of an unnamed bridge in 1997, as well as preserving several other historic bridges. This box includes photographs, slides and photo negatives, as well as correspondence and facsimile drawings. Subjects include bridges over the Muskingum River, West Virginia bridges, and West Virginia covered bridges.

Kemp maintained research files about bridges and assisted in planning the historical marker about the Brownsville Cast Iron Arch Bridge (also called the Dunlap's Creek Bridge) in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. The box includes correspondence, photographic prints, photographic slides, scholarly journal articles, reports, student papers, event programs and newsletters. The box also includes the following facsimiles: correspondence, reports, photographs, journal articles, book excerpts, clippings and engineering drawings. Subjects include the Brownsville Cast Iron Arch Bridge, bridges of Europe and North America, engineering, railroad bridges, the history of bridge architecture in the United States and bridge construction. The following oversize items were moved to Map Cabinet 12, Drawer 11, Folder 4: one map (1987), ten sheets of clippings (1883-1885 and undated), and three engineering drawings (1987 and undated).