Roads

Peter Rowe's professional career coincided with the rapid development of Britain's motorway network and the upgrading of many existing primary roads to dual carriageways. Among the motorways he advised on were the M1 in North London, the M62 Trans-Pennine motorway, the M63 south-west of Manchester (later incorporated into the M60 Manchester orbital motorway) and the M65 North Lancashire motorway. Urban motorways such as the A57(M) Mancunian Way in Manchester (PWR/4/2/5/1) and the A167(M) in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (PWR/4/2/5/6) often ran in elevated sections or through deep cuttings, whose foundations and retaining walls require special design considerations. Rowe was also involved in the improvement made to the A9 Perth to Inverness road (PWR/4/2/5/11) and the A55 North Wales Trunk Road (PWR/4/2/5/13). This section also includes files relating to the road bridge over the River Itchen in Southampton (PWR/4/2/5/9) and the Kessock Bridge over the Beauly Firth near Inverness (PWR/4/2/5/11).

The Litigation section of the archive, PWR/4/5, contains files relating to numerous road-building projects since by their very nature road schemes are predominantly earthworks requiring a high input of geotechnical skills in their design and construction.