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Comment by chippy

9 years ago

I remember a talk from a map librarian who said that the Soviets didn't just copy western maps, as they often had more detail and unique elements that the western maps didn't have. One thing, for example was the heights of bridges, and widths of roads.

You might want to jump straight into the examples: https://redatlasbook.com/cityplans

Flash is needed though...

Make no mistake, we have that as well. Worldwide: https://www.sddc.army.mil/sites/TEA/Functions/SpecialAssista...

Makes sense about the bridges and roads thing. You need to know that for tanks. Even today in Germany you’ll see tiny bridges crossing a stream, a sign right by that says “this bridge rated for 70,000 pounds” (so can hold multiple tanks at once).

I once talked to a guy working in the local government responsible for all-things-roads in a town in Germany. He showed me some maps and building plans of bridges and told me that these maps/plans were actually highly classified in the cold war.

Makes sense to me that the soviets collected everything.