Everett E Henderson Jr 2010-04-12 Literature Review Professor Charlie Hailey R. G. LeTourneau: Popular Media This literature review explores the popular media that was present at the time Robert Gilmore (R. G.) LeTourneau was inventing his machines. While LeTourneau is most famous for his earth moving equipment, I will focus on the equipment he invented to build houses and the technology that led to the houses. The steel panel system, the igloo system and the flat roof concrete houses produced by the Tournalayer will all be covered.
Transcript
Everett E Henderson Jr 2010-04-12 Literature Review Professor Charlie Hailey
R. G. LeTourneau: Popular Media This literature review explores the popular media that was present at the time Robert Gilmore (R. G.) LeTourneau was inventing his machines. While LeTourneau is most famous for his earth moving equipment, I will focus on the equipment he invented to build houses and the technology that led to the houses. The steel panel system, the igloo system and the flat roof concrete houses produced by the Tournalayer will all be covered.
Image: Cover of January 1942 Popular Science in which the article WeId It appears.
Powell, Hickman. "Weld It." Popular Science January 1942: 52-57, 220.
Image: R. G. LeTourneau standing next to one of the tires he used on his equipment. The machines were powered by electricity that was generated from diesel generators. (52)
Powell, Hickman. "Weld It." Popular Science January 1942: 52-57, 220.
Image: “He welds everything, from the graceful mantel in his own home to a husky rooter…” (54).
Image: “Newest and biggest of the Tournapull tractor units is this experimental model powered by Twin Diesel engines, here hitched to a Carryall scraper. The tires are the biggest ever made, of 9 ½ -foot diameter.” (54)
Image: “At right is a standard-model Tournapull dragging a Carryall.” (54)
Image caption: “LeTourneau's own home at Toccoa, Ga., is of welded steel construction, built of rectangular plates…” (56).
Image caption: “…stamped out with the powerful press shown below. This building method was first developed at the Peoria, Ill., plant, for employee housing, and has been adapted to all kinds and sizes of structures” (56).
Image: “The Wizard of the Welding Torch designs and builds nearly all of the machinery used in his plants---and you' have to hunt to find a bolt or rivot. This is a special lathe with demountable head to make retooling an easy job.” (55).
Image caption: “…350-bed hotel on the LeTourneou-made Lake Louise. An unsupported dome of welded steel, 100 feet in diameter, covers its vast central lobby and auditorium.” (56).
Image caption: “LeTourneau points to a steel panel in a building wall. Set edge to edge, the panels are welded at the joints and insulation is forced inside them.” (57).
Image caption: “To house his five planes, LeTourneau built this big hangar. Even the sliding doors are of steel panels. The wide expanse of roof is supported by one pillar.” (57).
Image caption: “Basic unit of welded-steel building construction is a panel made of rectangular plates held apart by light diagonal braces as shown in the drawing.” (57).
Image: Cover of October 1942 LIFE in which the article AMERICA'S MOST SPECTACULAR MAKER OF EARTH-MOvING MACHINES IS "IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD" appears. Jarman, Rufus. "Letourneau: America's Most Spectacular Maker of Earth-Moving Machines Is "In Partnership with God"." LIFE, no. October 16, 1944 (1944): 49-59.
Image: Cover of May 1946 Popular Mechanics. McDermott, William F. "Letourneau Lays a House." Popular Mechanics Magazine, no. May 1946 (1946): 139-41.
The LeTourneau poured concrete prefabricated house could also be considered a more unusual representation of a preassembled house. LeTourneau houses were manufactured at the site with a large machine called the “Tournalayer” that cast the house in concrete. Though manufacture of these houses occurred at the building site, the machine itself was prefabricated to make the final product.192
Wilde, Robert E. "1930-1954: An Era of Expansion." ACI (American Concrete Institute): A Century of Progress - Supplement to Concrete International (2004): 36.
1951
(unattributed), Booklet. "Proven Letourneau Home Designs: Outstanding Homes Built by the Tournalayer." Booklet (ca. 1945): 11 pages
