Rubb Fabric Building News

After nearly thirty years of business, Rubb continues to be a strong presence in our native Norway. The Norwegian Branch of Rubb sells shelters and buildings throughout Norway, as well as other parts of Eastern Europe, Asia and locations even further afield. Our structures from the beginning have been designed to withstand the hard winds and snows of Norway, and this fact is known very well to Norwegians, where our buildings are known as “rubbhalls.”

One such structure was recently delivered to Bergen Interkommunale Renovasjonsselskap Privat AS (BiR Privat AS). BiR is the largest refuse collector on the West coast of Norway and are headquartered in the city of Bergen. We met BiR Privat AS’s need for a flexible and rugged storage building for refuse bins with a customized RHA shelter.

The 10m wide x 21m long shelter pictured is is similar to our THA shelters, but with an upgraded framework to suit the harsh Norwegian winters. To suit the need for flexibility, we added a door to the structure on each end measuring 4.5 wide x 4.1m high. This allows access to both ends of the shelter allowing maximum logistical flexibility.

Uniquely suited to the climate and with great functionality, BiR Privat AS should expect decades of reliable and trouble-free storage from this structure.

Not far from Rubbestadneset, birthplace of Rubb and home of Rubb’s Norwegian division, a Rubb structure sits at a site rich with World War 2 history.

The west coast of Norway was both the last stronghold and a perilous passage for the German submarine fleet at the tail end of WW2. After D-Day, Allied forces quickly took hold of France’s submarine bases, forcing German leadership to withdraw their submarine fleets to Norway. The town of Bergen, notched in the rugged landscape of Western Norway, was an important home base, with both excellent access to Eastern Norway via railway and waterways to Britain and Europe. The large, protected bunkers of Bergen provided sufficient refuge for the retreating German fleet, but not without a long and bitter trek across the North Atlantic.

Well aware of the “Festung Norwegen,” or Fortress of Norway, as the Germans called it, the Allied command sent squadrons of air power to take out submarines, navy vessels, and supply ships on their way to or from Norway. Countering the offensive (primarily among the British Royal Air Forces) were powerful escort vessels dubbed “Flakships” by British naval and air forces.

These menacing vessels were refurbished whaling vessels armed to the brim with weapons, ranging from machine guns of all sizes, depth charges, and a rocket-based weapon that sheared wings off from opposing aircraft. Countering these vicious guard units were the nimble “Mosquito” aircraft, lead by Allied troops from bases in Northern Scotland.

The German units held out for a while, hiding among the fjords of Western Norway or sailing at night when possible, but the Allied forces persisted and eventually assaulted Bergen itself. “Bunker Bruno,” the massive submarine shelter, was several damaged by Allied bombing, leaving only three of its many submarine pens intact.

Today, the Norwegian Navy still uses these pens to house submarines, and a Rubb NV type building sits alongside the historic location. The 10 x 21 x 3m structure uses a steel folding door and is used today for stoage by SFK/UVB-Bunker. While dwarfed by the massive structure that once housed the strength of Germany’s navy, this Rubb structure is ideally suited for the harsh environment of this location in the heart of Western Norway.

The versatility and portability of Rubb structures is often the key selling point of Rubb structures, as demonstrated recently by the engineering company ABB ordering three 32.8′ (10m) wide x 78.8′ (24m) long with 11′ (3.35m) side wall THAB shelters for a major communications project in Saudi Arabia. These shelters, like many Rubb structures, are used as general warehouses in a harsh and unforgiving environment. The modular structures were delivered to the site and constructed using local labor and Rubb’s detailed assembly instructions.