Metal barns and how to discover more
Amazingly strong, these buildings have proven resistant to hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes and heavy wind, rain and snow. Without need of supportive beams or trusses, a Quonset hut has 100 percent usable space for such disparate purposes as grain and crop storage and airplane hangars. Quonset huts, developed at the naval base in Quonset, Rhode Island during World War II, were originally intended to address the need for light housing and storage that could be quickly assembled and torn down in the field with nothing more than hand tools. Their building panels were constructed from steel strong enough to protect troops and supplies from the elements. Unfortunately, the initial Quonset hut design included panels and steel rib frames supported by wooden purlins that prevented effective field use of the buildings as bakeries, showers, dental offices and isolation wards.