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

82 maps created between 1982 and 1997 depict infrastructure and resources in Alberta. The Government of Alberta produced these monochrome maps, which include features such as roads, railways, pipelines, trails, transmission lines, airfields, municipalities, bodies of water, and natural resource sites. They are available as non-georeferenced PDF files and TIFF files on request.

Use Cases

• Historical analysis of transportation network development based on roads and railways.
• Mapping the historical footprint of natural resource extraction based on resource sites.
• Studying the historical relationship between settlements and infrastructure based on municipalities and roads.
• Analyzing the historical layout of utility corridors based on pipelines and transmission lines.
• Reconstructing historical land access patterns based on trails and airfields.

Strengths

• 82 distinct maps provide a series of historical snapshots.
• Maps cover a 15-year period from 1982 to 1997.
• Features include nine distinct infrastructure and resource categories as listed in the description.

Limitations

• Maps are non-georeferenced PDFs, requiring manual alignment for modern GIS use.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect temporal bias inherent to the 1982-1997 collection period.

Provenance

Source

Government of Alberta

Collection Method

Created as printed monochrome maps using the National Topographic System (NTS) map sheet identifier.

Time Range

1982 to 1997

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-17 14:38:41.885338; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Alberta, Canada