>Two or so years ago I saw a thing on TV about made-to-order beams of any dimensions wanted.
>As I saw it it was plywood on steroids.
>A beam of, say, 15inches x 15inches x 60feet was made of very much smaller bits of wood of varying sizes, all fairly long (maybe 2+feet) but maybe 1inch x 1inch, .5inch x 1.5inch, etc. The beams were made of these pieces bathed in glue, compressed together and then pushed through a microwave oven to harden the glue. They were said to be much stronger than a beam of equivalent solid wood.
>
>I could see such things with waterproof/fireproof glue allowing a whole new way to build buildings.

That's something Frank Lloyd Wright was using a lot. I've seen a building back home which was built entirely of such beams 25 years ago - and it's still in better shape than many younger buildings.