Talk:Nissen hut

Nissen Hut 2

The sentence "It is not surprising that, during the course of World War I, a design for a prefabricated, portable multi-purpose hut was developed"

is imho an arbitrary statement that should either be backed by something, explained or rewritten. Sorry, I have no idea about WW1 or would do it myself.

--Jck5000 (talk) 17:17, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

'Installations'?

In "...to facilitate the construction of hundreds of new installations." is an installation a military term, or just a synonym for 'construction'? It reads (to me) like a tautology, but if this is some military thing then perhaps it could be linked to further information? (Sam Wilson 03:08, 7 September 2006 (UTC))

NPOV And Rewrite

This article needs it /bad/. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.66.172.38 (talk) 03:57, 10 April 2007 (UTC).

Nissen Hut

There is a Nissen Hut in West St Gundagai currently used as the undertakers, but up till 4 years ago, a service station.

Earthquake Resistance

I removed the following sentence: "The Nissen hut is able to withstand earthquakes, because it has no weak right-angle bends between its walls, roof or foundation, and also because of its circular shape."

A Nissen hut would resist earthquake damage simply because it is timber-framed, and timber buildings usually perform well in earthquakes because wood has high tensile strength, i.e. it can stretch and bend without breaking as masonry would. The semi-cylindrical form has nothing to do with it. I cannot understand why a right angle would be any weaker than any other angle. In any case, a Nissen hut is full of right angles - look at the frame of one in plan view. Peter Bell (talk) 01:00, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

Bad opening lines

The opening sentence of this article should state the purpose of the huts. I looked it up to find that out, as I assume would most others 85.210.145.102 (talk) 03:30, 2 January 2012

Use as family housing

I don't know if anyone's watching this article, but this section is lacking information on the post-war London area. I was born in 1948 in an estate of Nissen huts in Laburnham Road, Mitcham, then Surrey, along with many other contemporaries, while local authorities frantically built housing to replace those destroyed during the blitz. Trouble is, I have only anecdotal evidence for this. They may have originally been military quarters or stores converted to homes - my parents had both been in the RN during the war - but to still have been used for housing in 1948 is significant, I would think. Tony Holkham (talk) 23:13, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

I believe there was one used as a family house in West Ealing, London W13, near the Liberal Synagogue, as late as at least 1997 (the last time I was there). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.12.97.111 (talk) 11:03, 6 August 2023 (UTC)

Nissen hut photo

Not sure the hut shown without a roof is a Nissen hut. I think it is a Romney Hut. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.156.210.82 (talk) 12:12, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

You are probably correct. Based on our articles, the span of a Nissen hut was 16 ft (4.9 m), 24 ft (7.3 m) or 30 ft (9.2 m). A Romney hut (and the earlier Iris hut) was larger, with a 35 feet (11 m) span. Is this accurate? It is difficult to establish the span of the hut in File:Nissen hut on Island road - geograph.org.uk - 1439912.jpg, but I suspect it is over 30 feet.

It would be useful to have article on Temporary steel buildings of World War II (or a similar title). This would compare and contrast (at least) the following: Nissen hut, Iris hut, Romney hut, Quonset hut, Bellman hangar and Dymaxion deployment unit, and give the history of such buildings. Verbcatcher (talk) 17:59, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

I have replaced the photo. Verbcatcher (talk) 18:34, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

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Ribs

This paragraph looks wrong:

• The purlins are attached to eight T-shaped ribs (1¾ × 1¾ × ⅛ inch; 4.5 × 4.5 × 0.5 cm) set at 6 feet 0.5 inch (1.8 m) centres. Each rib consists of three sections bolted together using splice plates, and each end is bolted to the floor at the bearers. With each rib are two straining wires, one on each side, and a straining ratchet (or in some cases a simple fencing wire strainer). The wires are strained during construction. The straining wires do not appear in the original Nissen patent.

It appears that the ribs are the semicircular members to which the corrugated sheets are fixed, and the purlins are the horizontal members that connect the ribs, see Purlin and Rib vault. If so, the ribs for a 16-foot span hut would be about 25 feet long, so the dimensions (1¾ × 1¾ × ⅛ inch; 4.5 × 4.5 × 0.5 cm) are wrong. What I think is meant is that the ribs have a 1¾ × 1¾ inch cross-section and were made from ⅛-inch steel. I think 'T-shaped ribs' refers to their cross-section. Is the top of the T on the outside or the inside of the curve? "Eight ribs" is wrong because we say the the length of the huts was not standardised. I propose to change the first sentence to:

• The purlins are attached to semicircular ribs with a 1+3⁄4-by-1+3⁄4-inch (44 mm × 44 mm) T-shaped cross-section made from 1⁄8 inch (3.2 mm) steel. The ribs are set at 6 feet 1⁄2 inch (1.84 m) centres. Each rib consists of three sections [...]

I am attempting to make sense of the existing text and have not consulted any other sources. Comments? Verbcatcher (talk) 00:05, 7 September 2018 (UTC)

Confusing measurements

"Nissen huts come in three internal spans—16 ft (4.9 m), 24 ft (7.3 m) or 30 ft (9.2 m). The longitudinal bays come in multiples of 6 ft (1.83 m).[2]."

Can someone clarify this statement? If I am reading this correctly, the "internal spans" are the length of the cylinder, and the "longitudinal bays" refers to its diameter, or radius?

In any case, I cannot square these numbers with the photographs. Looking at the ones under construction, and assuming the average height of the men is 5'9", the radius appears to be about 8ft. A 6' radius would have their heads at the top, which is it is not, and 12' would be high above the, which it is not.

If one considers the "extra height" because it's slightly more than a semi-circle, then perhaps one could get an 8' roofline from a 6' radius. However, the image in question shows no sign of such "more than semi", the vertical frames clearly meet the ground at 90 degrees.

There are numerous discrepancies here that need to be addressed.

Maury Markowitz (talk) 14:32, 16 November 2018 (UTC)

Oh wait, I get it now. Maury Markowitz (talk) 14:44, 16 November 2018 (UTC)

Germany, postwar

As can be seen on the German wp page, there are still Nissen huts existing in Western Germany. After WW2, there was the problem of displaced persons who could/would not return to their homelands in the (future) combloc countries. Also, there were masses ob bombed-out Germans who wre homeless then. The Anglo forces erected Nissen huts to handle that problem in their respective zones. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissenhütte Most of these still existing are under preservation order as they have been declared class listed monuments for historic reasons by the state. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2003:C0:DF09:ED00:6949:8B0B:41A3:7244 (talk) 10:38, 13 March 2021 (UTC)

We could add one or two pictures of Nissen huts in Germany from c:Category:Nissen huts in Germany. Beyond that we would need a reliable source: we might be able to use one of the sources in de:Nissenhütte. Verbcatcher (talk) 04:11, 10 April 2021 (UTC)