A Quonset hut can be used for many things. It has been used as a hangar, a military barracks, a house and much more. Today it is mostly used for storage, whether it be for personal items or cars or farm equipment. The real nice perk is that it can be all of this on a budget. Square foot for square foot a Quonset hut is more affordable then masonry, lumber and steel beam construction. It may not look fancy, but a Quonset hut gets the job done on a budget. It manages to do this in a few ways. First of all, the Quonset hut was designed in a way that didnt require a lot of materials. It is made up of a bunch of pieces corrugated metal that are bent into arches. There are cross beams down at the end that add to the structural integrity, but the corrugated steel really makes these structures sound. The metal is less costly then other types of material partially because you do not need as much. Needing less materials also means that you do not need to invest as much money into transporting the materials. The assembly time is a lot lower as well which also saves you on manual labor. Compare the assembly time of a day for a Quonset hut versus the time of a month for your more traditional manufacturing styles. Any one of the factors of materials, transport and labor would make the Quonset hut more affordable, but all three together make Quonset huts a great affordable option.
The fact that a Quonset hut can be easily moved made it a great tool for the Army during the second world war. Quonset huts were used for everything in the army at that time. Though as the troops kept marching the Quonset huts could be packed up to be taken to the next location. The same still goes today, meaning that when you are done with your Quonset hut at a certain location you can move it to where it is needed most. It is much easier to ship then other buildings and it means you do not have to build a new one. It would be useless to have excess in one place and a need in another. That is the beauty of the Quonset hut, it is about the practicality of doing the job without breaking the bank. See more Portable garages -- Commercial steel buildings -- Prefabricated metal buildings --