The Mighty Eighth Air Force, World War II, by Ben Kidder
www.YellowAirplane.com

 The Mighty Eighth Air Force WWII,
The First Double Overpass in the United States at Willow Run.

The Mighty Eighth Air Force WW2 Page 3

Picture of the First Double Overpass to be built in the United States, which was a result of the building of the Willow Run Bomber Factory

Imagen del paso elevado Primero doble que se construir en los Estados Unidos, que fue el resultado de la construccin de la fbrica Willow Bombardero de ejecucin

Home A-7 Corsair II Alpha Jet Betty Bombers North Pole Exhibits Baka Bomb
Deane Kesterson Five Miles Gee Bee Aircraft Inaki Ruiz  Why God Sent Me Stolen P-40
One More Mission Patco Pitts Exhibits P-51 Mustang Poland to Pullman Short Straw
Siamak Hatami  South Pole Exhibit  Alaska Doug Keller USS Kitty Hawk 34th Fighter Squadron
413th Fighter Group Famous People

Go to the
YellowAirplane
Online Museum

 Falkland, Malvinas War  Willow Run
  Corvettes Sports Cars

To the Main Entrance of the Yellow Airplane StoreGo to the Stores Front Door to See a Lot MORE.

   

The Mighty Eighth Air Force
World War II

by Warren Benjamin Kidder

The First highway double overpass in the United States
was built because of the Willow Run B-24 Bomber Factory

 

B-24 Liberator Bombers

  This is a picture of the First Double Overpass to be built in the United States 

Photo Scanned by C. Jeff Dyrek

 

previous willow run page
The Mighty Eighth Air Force Exhibit Home
next willow run page

 

Sequel to "Willow Run the Colossus of Industry"
about the construction of the B-24 Liberator

  Click Here's Warren Benjamin Kidders, Willow Run The Colossus of Industry  Click Here's the Movie Script for Willow Run

    Charles E. Sorenson, designer of the Willow Run B-24 Bomber Production LineBuilding a the worlds largest factory, like Willow Run, takes many steps.  Planning how the most efficient production line will work would be the first step.  This part of the Willow Run design was done by Charles E. Sorensen.  Charles Sorensen was a young engineer for Henry Ford who was able to convert Ford's radical new mass production ideas onto a usable blueprint.  Charles Sorensen built a number of production lines before he was tasked with the largest engineering production line in the worlds history, the Willow Run B-24 Liberator Bomber Factory.
Albert Kahn, designer of the Willow Run factory building and accompanying Willow Run AirportOnce the plans for a production line were complete, it took a large architectural company to design the building around this production line.  This job was done by Albert Kahn, a long time Architect who has done contract work for Henry Ford on previous projects.  It wasn't just building the worlds largest structure that Albert Kahn had to do, he had to design the entire Willow Run Airport, the sewage system, the water drainage system, the schools, administration buildings, parking lots, housing developments and road systems so all of the 40,000 plus workers could get to work. 

The picture of the first double overpass in the United States (above) is one of the examples of what was necessary to move the traffic in and out of the 15,000 car parking lot.  The double overpass was built by the Michigan Highway Department and was dedicated on September 12th, 1942, by Donald S. Patterson.  

Other considerations in building the B-24 Liberator Factory was moving all of the people off of the land, which meant bulldozing and burning almost every home on the new Willow Run Airport property.  Some people, like Ben Kidders father were lucky enough to move their homes to new locations, but most people were not. 

As the webmaster reading this book, I was wondering about this huge destruction and all of the fires that happened a couple of years before the United States entered the war.  In my mind, it must have looked like a war zone in itself with huge fires and columns of smoke emanating from the area. 

While the bulldozers were leveling the airport land to government specifications, they were desecrating the graves and bodies of the Potawatomi Indians buried on that land.  The Potawatomi Trail went right through the heart of what became the Willow Run Airport and Factory.   Albert Khan described the Willow Run Factory as the most enormous room in the history of mankind. 

 

  Click Here to see the Script Release for  
  "Willow Run The Eighth Air Force WW2 Movie"
 

Plan view of the Willow Run Airport

This is the Plan View of the Willow Run Airport and B-24  Factory

 

Tar Paper Shacks at the Willow Run Airport

Some families had to endure hot summers and freezing cold winters in self built tar paper shacks before the construction of the Willow Run Factory and Willow Run Airport.

 

Tent City at the Willow Run Airport in 1939

In the initial phases of the construction of the Willow Run B-24 Liberator Factory, people had to live in Tent Cities which were some of the worst living conditions in the United States.  This was because of the huge number of people required to build the factory, airport, housing and schools.

 

Toilets over flow in Willow Run creating the risk of Typhoid

During heavy rains, the toilets over flow in Willow Run creating the risk of Typhoid and other disease outbreaks

 

Order Willow Run, the Book. 
To Order 
Your Personal Autographed Copy Contact

KFT Publishers,
3617 Christine Dr.
Lansing, MI. 48911

For Information Contact
Email: kidderfr@ATT.net Phone 517- 394-2849

 Here's another Book Review about a B-24 Pilot in WW2, Jessie Pettey.

An Article by the webmaster

  Click Here's Warren Benjamin Kidders New Book, The Mighty Eighth Air Force Click Here's the Movie Script for Willow Run


B-24 Liberator Movies     B-24 Liberator Aviation Art              B-24 Liberator Models

B-17 Superfortress Movies     B-17 Superfortress Aviation Art              B-17 Superfortress Models

highway, double overpass, first overpass, willow run, b-24 Bomber, b-24 factory. 

To the Main Entrance of the Yellow Airplane StoreGo to the Stores Front Door

Home Base ( ) ( ) Corvettes
Airplane Books WW1 Aircraft Acoustic Guitars Aviation Museums 
Airplane Models WW2 Bombers Train Calendars Tanks
Jet Fighter Models Camaros for Sale Ship Models Military Vehicles 

 

Click Here for a list of WW2 Fighter Groups

Listing of WW2 Bomber Groups

Click Here to go to the YellowAirplane Online Museum


   Write to the Webmaster  

 

 

 

       AVIATION TOP 100 - www.avitop.com    Best Aviation Sites Airplane Web Sites 

 

/WebSite/Book_Reviews/Kidder_8th_Air_Force_Action/Page_3_First_Highway_Double_Overpass_in_United_States.html|57624"

 

 

  .