Editing Prefabrication (section)

==History==
[[File:"Loren" Iron House, Old Gippstown.JPG|thumb|"Loren" Iron House, at [[Old Gippstown]] in [[Moe, Victoria|Moe]], Australia]]
Prefabrication has been used since ancient times. For example, it is claimed that the world's oldest known engineered [[road]]way, the [[Sweet Track]] constructed in England around [[39th century BC|3800 BC]], employed prefabricated timber sections brought to the site rather than assembled on-site.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}

[[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] kings of ancient [[Sri Lanka]] have used prefabricated buildings technology to erect giant structures, which dates back as far as 2000 years, where some sections were prepared separately and then fitted together, specially in the [[Anuradhapura Kingdom|Kingdom of Anuradhapura]] and [[Kingdom of Polonnaruwa|Polonnaruwa]].

After the great [[Lisbon earthquake of 1755]], the Portuguese capital, especially the [[Lisbon Baixa|Baixa]] district, was rebuilt by using prefabrication on an unprecedented scale.  Under the guidance of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, popularly known as the [[Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal|Marquis de Pombal]], the most powerful royal minister of D. [[Joseph I of Portugal|Jose I]], a new [[Pombaline style|Pombaline]] style of architecture and urban planning arose, which introduced early [[earthquake engineering|anti-seismic]] design features and innovative prefabricated construction methods, according to which large multistory buildings were entirely manufactured outside the city, transported in pieces and then assembled on site.  The process, which lasted into the nineteenth century, lodged the city's residents in safe new structures unheard-of before the quake.

Also in Portugal, the town of [[Vila Real de Santo António]] in the [[Algarve]], founded on 30 December 1773, was quickly erected through the use of prefabricated materials en masse. The first of the prefabricated stones was laid in March 1774.  By 13 May 1776, the centre of the town had been finished and was officially opened.

In 19th century Australia a large number of prefabricated houses were imported from the United Kingdom.
 
The method was widely used in the construction of [[prefabricated housing]] in the 20th century, such as in the United Kingdom as temporary housing for thousands of urban families "bombed out" during [[World War II]]. Assembling sections in factories saved time on-site and the lightness of the panels reduced the cost of foundations and assembly on site. Coloured concrete grey and with flat roofs, prefab houses were uninsulated and cold and life in a prefab acquired a certain stigma, but some London prefabs were occupied for much longer than the projected 10 years.<ref name="Sargeant_2016"/>

[[The Crystal Palace]], erected in [[London]] in 1851, was a highly visible example of iron and glass prefabricated construction; it was followed on a smaller scale by [[Oxford Rewley Road railway station]].

During [[World War II]], prefabricated [[Cargo ship]]s, designed to quickly replace ships sunk by Nazi [[U-boat]]s became increasingly common. The most ubiquitous of these ships was the American [[Liberty ship]], which reached production of over 2,000 units, averaging 3 per day.