This ms engineering journal is in two parts, spanning the period of Kirkwood's career associated with the Pensacola docks in Florida, 1845-1847, but also covering the period 1871-1877 providing a wealth of information on the occupation of the USA's most important civil engineers.
The content is: copy letters which offer a detailed account of the exigencies of the task at Pensacola; and, diary or journal entries.
The volume also has - at the end - a combination of biographical notes, names and addresses... being professional contacts in the USA, the names of Kirkwoods including one in Scotland (in Helensburgh), and other Scottish addresses.