The successful completion of the Walnut Lane and Tampa Bay bridges in 1950 and '51 showed very convincingly the tremendous potential of prestressed concrete. Nevertheless, several nagging questions remained unresolved. For example:
�? Would prestressed concrete be solely confined to long-span "monumental" type structures?
�? Would prestressed concrete components have to be "custom- made" for each individual structure?
�? Could the same principles that were being used successfully for bridges also be applied for buildings and other structures?
�? If mass production under controlled factory conditions was the key to the solution what types of prestressed concrete components would be desirable?
�? Lastly, and most importantly, if the technological obstacles could be overcome, was there a sufficient incentive (i.e., a profit motivation) for business men to invest considerable capital in plant facilities, materials, machinery, transportation and erection equipment?
The answers to these and other vexing questions were being tackled in other parts of the country. However, it was in Florida where much of the early pioneering work was done. In short, it was the innovators in Florida who spearheaded the developmental work and set the pace for the rest of the country to follow.
