Operation Breakthrough was a program of the US

Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and U ...

, authorized by the Housing Law of 1968., a 3-phase HUD demonstration that tested innovative building materials and methods. George Romney announced Operation Breakthrough in May 1969, four months after joining President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...

’s cabinet as secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It was intended to increase the amount of housing available to the poor and it initially had Nixon's support. Based on his automotive industry experience, Romney thought that the cost of housing could be significantly reduced if in-factory

modular construction Modular construction is a construction technique which involves the prefabrication of 2D panels or 3D volumetric structures in off-site factories and transportation to construction sites for assembly. This process has the potential to be superior ...

techniques were used, despite the lack of national building standards. HUD officials believed that the introduction of this technique could help bring about desegregation; Romney said, "We've got to put an end to the idea of moving to suburban areas and living only among people of the same economic and social class". This aspect of the program brought about strong opposition at the local suburban level and lost support in the White House as well. Over half of HUD's research funds during this time were spent on Operation Breakthrough, and it was modestly successful in its building goals.Nenno, ''Ending the Stalemate'', p. 13. It did not revolutionize home construction, and was phased out once Romney left HUD. But it resulted indirectly in more modern and consistent

building codes A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the standards for constructed objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Buildings must conform to the code to obtain planning permiss ...

and introduction of technological advances such as the

smoke alarm A smoke detector is a device that senses smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. Smoke detectors are usually housed in plastic enclosures, typically shaped like a disk about in diameter and thick, but shape and size vary. Smoke can be detecte ...

. While Operation Breakthrough made little impact in the United States, it radically influenced other countries, as Japan and Sweden.

References

Housing in the United States Affordable housing {{Planning-stub

See also

References