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Nissen hut in Port Lincoln, South Australia, in the process of being converted into the John Calvin Presbyterian Church in the early 1950s. It was demolished in the late 1960s.
Nissen hut in Port Lincoln, South Australia, in the process of being converted into the John Calvin Presbyterian Church in the early 1950s. It was demolished in the late 1960s.
One of many Nissen huts covered with earth and used for munition storage during WWII. Charles Darwin National Park, Darwin NT Australia, 2006
One of many Nissen huts covered with earth and used for munition storage during WWII. Charles Darwin National Park, Darwin NT Australia, 2006

The Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure made from a semi-circle of corrugated steel, a variant of which (the Quonset hut) was used extensively during the Second World War by the Commonwealth and U.S. military to build army camps and airbases. Corrugated galvanised iron (colloquially corrugated iron, commonly abbreviated CGI is a Building material composed of sheets of hot-dip galvanised Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. The United States Armed Forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States

Contents

Description

A Nissen hut is made from a sheet of metal bent into half a cylinder and planted in the ground with its axis horizontal. A cylinder is one of the most basic curvilinear geometric shapes the Surface formed by the points at a fixed distance from a given Straight line, the axis The hut was not precisely semi-circular as the bottom of the hut curved in slightly. The exterior was formed from curved corrugated steel sheets 10 foot 6 inches by 2 foot 2 inches laid with a two corrugation lap at the side and a 6 inch overlap at the ends. Corrugated galvanised iron (colloquially corrugated iron, commonly abbreviated CGI is a Building material composed of sheets of hot-dip galvanised Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 Three sheets covered the arc of the hut (about 54 sheets in all were required). These were attached to five, 3 inch x 2 inch wooden purlins and 3 inch x 2 inch wooden spiking plates at the ends of the floor joists. In Architecture or Structural engineering, a purlin (or purline) is a horizontal structural member in a Roof.

The purlins were attached to eight T shaped ribs (1¾ inches x 1¾ inches x 0. 2 inch) set at 6 foot 0. 5 inch centers. Each rib consisted of three sections bolted together using splice plates and each end was bolted to the floor at the bearers. With each rib were two straining wires, one on each side and a straining ratchet (or in some cases a simple fencing wire strainer). The wires were strained during construction. The straining wires do not appear in the original Nissen patent.

The purlins were attached to the ribs using a “hook” bolt, which hooked through a pre-drilled hole in the rib and was secured into the purlin. The hook bolt was a unique feature of the Nissen design.

Interior lining could be horizontal corrugated iron or material like Masonite attached to the ribs. Masonite is a type of Hardboard invented by William H Mason. It is formed using the Mason method using Wooden chips and blasting them into long fibers The roof and lining form a circular space with a radius of 8 foot 0. 5 inch, although because of the inward curve the floor was only 15 foot 10 inches. The space between the interior and exterior lining could be used for insulation and services if required.

The walls and floors rested on foundations consisting of 4 inch x 4 inch stumps with 15 x 9 inch sole plates. On these were 4 x 3 inch bearers and 4 x 2 inch joists at 2 foot 10 inch centers. The floor was made from tongue and groove floorboards. At East Hills and at Villawood the floor was concrete, the ribs in this case were simply attached to the concrete slab by a simple metal strap.

At either end the walls were made from a simple wooden frame with weatherboards nailed to the outside.

Windows and doors could be added to the sides by creating a simple dormer form through adding a simple frame to take the upper piece of corrugated iron and replacing the lower piece with a suitable frame for a door or window.

Nissen huts come in three internal spans, 16 ft (4. 88 m), 24 ft (7. 32 m) or 30 ft (9. 15 m). The longitudinal bays come in multiples of 6 ft (1. 83 m). [1] The corrugated steel half-circles used to build Nissen huts can be stored efficiently, because the curved sheets can be cupped one inside another.

The Nissen hut is able to withstand earthquakes, because it has no weak right-angle bends between its walls, roof or foundation and because of its circular shape. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area Vietnam roofjpg|thumb|The roofs of Vietnam.]] A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a Building. A foundation is a Structure that transfers loads to the earth


History

It is not surprising that during the course of World War I a design for a prefabricated, portable multi-purpose hut was developed. Sometime between the 16th and 18 April 1916, the then Major Peter Norman Nissen of the 29th Company Royal Engineers began to experiment with hut designs. Peter Norman Nissen (1871&ndash1930 a Canadian mining engineer developed the prefabricated shelter called the Nissen hut in 1916 Nissen, a middle-aged mining engineer and inventor, constructed three prototype semi-circular huts. The semi-circular shape was derived from the drill-shed roof at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. Queen's University, generally referred to simply as Queen's, is a coeducational non-sectarian Public university located in Kingston, Ontario Kingston Ontario is a Canadian city located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, where the lake runs into the St Nissen’s design was subject to intensive design review by his fellow officers, Lt Col’s Shelly, Sewell and McDonald and General Liddell, which helped Nissen develop the design. After the third prototype was completed the design was formalized and the Nissen Hut was put into production in August 1916 (see Figure One). At least 100,000 were produced in World War I (McCosh 1997:82-108).

Nissen patented his invention in the UK in 1916 and later patents were taken out in the USA, Canada, South Africa and Australia. Nissen received royalties from the British government not for huts made during the war but for their sale after the conflict. Nissen got some £13,000 and the DSO. The Distinguished Service Order ( DSO) is a Military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other Commonwealth countries awarded for

Two factors influenced the design of the hut. First, the building had to be economic in its use of materials, especially considering war-time shortages of building material. Second, the building had to be portable. This was particularly important in view of the war-time shortages of shipping space. This led to a simple form that was prefabricated for ease of erection and removal. The Nissen hut could be packed in a standard Army wagon and erected by six men in four hours. The world record for erection was 1 hour 27min (McCosh 1997:108).

Production of the Nissen waned between the wars but was revived in 1939. Nissen Buildings Ltd waived their patent rights for war-time production. Similar shaped hut types were developed as well, notably the Romney Hut in the UK and the Quonset huts in the USA. All types were mass produced in the thousands. The Nissen Hut was used for a wide range of functions, apart from accommodation they were used as churches and bomb stores, etc. (see Francis 1996, Innes 1998, 2000, Pullar 1997).

During World War Two the Nissen hut was produced along with a similar type, the Romney Hut. In the USA the Quonset hut and its derivatives were developed; the inital version was almost a copy of Nissen's design.

Accounts of life in the hut generally were not positive. Huts in the United Kingdom were frequently seen as cold and drafty while those in the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific were seen as stuffy and humid.

Although the prefabricated hut was conceived to meet war time demand for accommodation, similar situations such as construction camps, are places where prefabricated buildings are useful. The Nissen hut was adapted into a prefabricated two story house and marketed by Nissen-Petren Ltd. The standard Nissen Hut was often recycled into housing (McCoash 1997:121-123). A similar approach was taken with the US Quonset Hut at the end of WWII with articles on how to adapt the buildings for domestic use appearing in Home Beautiful as well as Popular Mechanics.

However the adaptation of the semi-circular hut to non-institutional uses was not popular. Neither the Nissen nor the Quonset developed into popular housing despite their low cost. One reason was the association with huts: a hut was not a house, with all the status a house implies. The second point was that rectangular furniture does not fit into a curved wall house very well, and thus the actual usable space in a hut might be much less than supposed.

See also

References

  1. ^ Brown, Ian et al. See also Earthquake engineering Earthquake construction is a branch of Architectural engineering concerned with making sure Structures can withstand World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm in Orkney, Scotland, was built by Italian prisoners of war captured in Africa during World War The invasion of Iceland, codenamed Operation Fork, was a British Military operation conducted by the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines (1995). 20th century defenses in Britain: an introductory guide. Council for British Archeology. ISBN 1-872414-57-5.  

External links

Dictionary

Nissen hut

-noun

  1. (UK) A prefabricated building, formerly used by the military, having a semicircular roof of corrugated iron
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