Most of the images were created by professional studios and by staff photographers of GLD&D, resulting in excellent quality. Significant works include land reclamation for the extension of Lincoln Park and the building of Lake Shore Drive, bridge superstructures for the Michigan and Torrence Avenue Bridges, and the straightening of the South Branch of the Chicago River. As a result, projects in the Chicago area are especially well-documented. Most of the jobs undertaken by GLD&D up until the mid-20th century were centered around Chicago and Wisconsin, as the corporate headquarters of the company was located there until the late 20th century. A wide range of projects is represented, from building seawalls for residential customers to conducting large-scale land reclamamtion operations for locations both foreign and domestic, including Lincoln Park, Chicago Hart Miller Island, MD and Doha, Qatar.

The bulk of the collection is made up of photographs documenting nearly a century of marine construction work conducted by Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company (GLD&D).

Great lakes docks and dredge