Historical Resource Base Series: Alberta Road and Access Maps, 1982-1997

Between 1982 and 1997, the Government of Alberta created a series of printed monochrome road and access maps. These Historical Resource Base Series maps depict features such as roads, railways, pipelines, trails, transmission lines, airfields, municipalities, bodies of water, and natural resource sites within Alberta, using the National Topographic System (NTS) map sheet identifier. The maps are available as non-georeferenced PDF files and TIFF files on request.

Use Cases

• Analyze historical transportation network development based on roads, highways, railways, and trails.
• Map the historical footprint of resource extraction based on natural resource sites and pipelines.
• Study changes in municipal boundaries and infrastructure based on municipalities and airfields.
• Create historical overlays for environmental studies based on bodies of water and transmission lines.

Strengths

• Maps cover a 15-year period from 1982 to 1997.
• Includes nine distinct feature types as listed in the description.
• Based on the standardized National Topographic System (NTS) map sheet identifier.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic/temporal/source bias inherent to open_canada.
• The primary files are non-georeferenced PDFs, which may require processing for modern GIS use.

Provenance

Source

Government of Alberta

Collection Method

Created as printed monochrome maps and later digitized.

Time Range

1982-1997

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-17 14:44:53.948046; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Alberta, Canada