This Technical Manual TM 5-856-5 covers Design of Structures to Resist the Effects of Atomic Weapons: Single-Story Frame Buildings and is dated July 1965. This manual is an official reprint of former EM 1110-345-417, originally issued on January 15, 1958. For collectors of U.S. Army technical manuals, Cold War engineering publications, military construction references, and atomic-age civil defense material, this is a strong period document tied to one of the most specialized areas of mid-century military engineering.
Issued during the Cold War, this publication belongs to the era when the U.S. military was actively developing engineering standards for hardened facilities, protective construction, and survivable infrastructure. Manuals like this were formal technical references intended for engineers, planners, and military construction personnel working within the Army’s design and protective-structure framework. That makes this manual especially useful for collectors, researchers, and institutions focused on military engineering history and Cold War preparedness.
Design of Structures to Resist the Effects of Atomic Weapons: Single-Story Frame Buildings
The title places TM 5-856-5 squarely in one of the most historically important technical fields of the Cold War: protective structural design in the atomic era. Rather than focusing on weapons, vehicles, or field equipment, this manual documents the Army’s engineering side of nuclear-age planning.
This volume is especially significant because it focuses on single-story frame buildings, making it directly relevant to the study of how framed structures were evaluated and designed in relation to atomic weapon effects. In practical terms, that places it in the technical world of:
For collectors, this manual is important because it documents how military engineering approached the design of a specific building type within the larger problem of atomic-age protective construction. It reflects the period when engineers had to think beyond conventional building practice and account for extreme loading and survivability requirements.
What This Manual Covers
As a technical manual devoted to the design of structures to resist the effects of atomic weapons, TM 5-856-5 would have served as an official Army engineering reference for protective design concepts related to single-story frame buildings.
In practical terms, a manual like this is especially relevant for:
The fact that this is an official reprint of former EM 1110-345-417 adds value for collectors who appreciate the continuity between earlier engineer-manual formats and later technical-manual designations.
Historical Significance
The date July 1965 places this publication in the mature Cold War period, when atomic-age military construction remained a serious engineering concern. By this time, the Army had refined a large body of technical literature dealing with protective structures, hardened facilities, and survivability planning. Manuals like this reflect a period when military engineering extended far beyond conventional barracks and support buildings to include specialized design doctrine shaped by nuclear-era threat assumptions.
For collectors and historians, this manual is especially relevant to subjects such as:
Because it covers a broad engineering subject rather than a single piece of equipment, it also has wide appeal across military history, architecture, engineering, and civil defense collections.
About This Manual
This listing is for Technical Manual TM 5-856-5 Design of Structures to Resist the Effects of Atomic Weapons: Single-Story Frame Buildings, dated July 1965.
This manual is an official reprint of former EM 1110-345-417, originally issued on January 15, 1958.
It is especially well suited for:
Because manuals were working documents, surviving examples are valued not only for their content, but also for their connection to real military planning, design, and service practice.
Why This Manual Matters
Many military manuals focus on rifles, vehicles, artillery, or field equipment. This one documents a different but equally important subject: how the Army approached the design of single-story frame buildings in the atomic era. That makes it especially useful for collectors and researchers who want more than general Cold War background and are interested in the engineering side of protective design.
For collectors, it is a strong stand-alone Cold War technical manual with clear historical value. For researchers, it offers a useful reference point for military structural design and survivability doctrine. For museums, it helps explain the engineering side of atomic-age preparedness that shaped military construction during the 1950s and 1960s.
Ideal For
This manual is a strong fit for:
Approx length 10", Approx width 8", Approx height .5", Approx weight 1lbs.
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