As anyone who has done any research on the ubiquitous Quonset Hut knows there where several designs and redesigns. The George A. Fuller and Company's engineers found a faster, cheaper way to assemble huts using an existing building product for the rib. Known as Stran-Steel, it was developed in the early 1930s by Great Lakes Steel Corporation, but had never caught on due to the premium price. It was a welded steel strip 2 by 3 5/8 inches, actually two lightweight channels welded back to back - with a wavy center groove that held special nails with lead seals.
The "Quonset Stran-Steel Hut" was so simple to erect that anyone who could hammer a nail could set it up. A crew of just 6 experienced men could build a hut in a single day.
Production of the original T-Rib Huts was halted sometime in 1942. Thereafter all huts used Stran-Steel ribs. With the change, the Fuller factory in West Davisville was closed and production moved to Great Lakes Steel Corporation in Ecorse, MI.
Now known as Great Lakes Works as a part of United States Steel Corporation. Great Lakes Works, situated along the Detroit River Ecorse, consists of both steelmaking and finishing facilities, making it one of five integrated steelmaking facilities U. S. Steel operates in the United States. Sheet products primarily for use in the automotive industry are manufactured at Great Lakes Works. Products include hot rolled, cold rolled, electrolytic galvanized, hot dip galvanized and high-strength, low-alloy steel.
Present raw steelmaking capacity at Great Lakes Works is 3.5 million tons.
Production facilities include; Three Blast Furnaces, Two BOP Vessels, Vacuum Degasser, Ladle Metallurgy Facility, Two Continuous Casters, 80" Hot Strip Mill, Pickle Line, 80" Tandem Cold Reduction Mill, Batch Anneal, Temper Mill, Electrogalvanizing Line, & Continuous Galvanizing Line
Here's a shot of the hot strip mill pulpit at Great Lakes Works:
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