This subfonds constitutes the bulk of the Peter Rowe Archive, and comprises files relating to the many projects in Britain and overseas with which Rowe was involved as a consultant or an expert witness. There are approximately five hundred projects and cases, of which the majority (over three hundred) are represented in the series PWR/4/2, British Construction Projects. This series is further broken down by project type (see below). The series PWR/4/3, International Construction Projects, and PWR/4/4, Offshore Structures, reflect Rowe's international reputation in the fields of soil mechanics and civil engineering.
Whereas Rowe was employed on an ad-hoc basis to advise on particular construction projects or litigation cases, he was retained by the Manchester Ship Canal Company for over thirty years to advise on a wide range of issues relating to canal banks, docks, locks and sludge deposit grounds. These papers therefore form as separate series, PWR/4/1.
Rowe was also invited to submit evidence as an expert witness in many arbitration and legal cases. These files form a separate series, PWR/4/5, although there is some overlap of subject matter with the files in PWR/4/2.
The documentation on individual projects and cases varies in quantity from a single slim file to the 180 folders spanning four decades that relate to Carsington Reservoir in Derbyshire (PWR/4/2/1/24). Carsington's dam failed as it neared completion, necessitating rebuilding. This, and the associated legal dispute, generated a vast quantity of documentation. The majority of projects comprise between one and ten folders. These typically contain correspondence, maps and plans, site investigation material such as bore-hole logs, notes, sketches, calculations, laboratory test data, and photographs.