Shipping Containers Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Shipping Containers’

SHIPPING CONTAINERS ARE USED AS CLASSROOMS IN AFRICA
CS Shipping Containers are supplying Computers 4 Africa with shipping containers that can be converted into classrooms equipped with computers to give IT skills to people in Africa.  Sharon Roberts from Computers 4 Africa said “We are delighted to have this opportunity to be working with CS Shipping Containers”.

CLASSROOM IN A CONTAINER
A major fund-raising campaign has seen over 18 shipping containers being delivered in the last fortnight to the Computers 4 Africa bases in Sheffield and Scotland where they will be converted into classrooms. The second hand shipping containers are a mixture of 20ft and 40ft sizes and will have desks fitted with donated computers, laptops and IT equipment.   The corten steel construction of a shipping container means that they are ideal for classrooms as they are strong and secure as well as weatherproof – and, of course, shipping containers can be cheaply shipped and easily transported on by road.

Shippng Containers Housing Computers 4 Africa

Schools often have  a tight budget and shipping containers can prove to be an economic solution.  The fact that shipping containers are made from strong, weather resistant corten steel make them ideal for a number of purposes.   Add to this that they are by their very construction extremely strong and secure, as well as easily transportable they are ideally suited for the school environment.

The eight most popular uses for shipping containers in Schools are:-

1. Providing additional storage for items such as chairs, sports equipment etc in all sizes from 10ft to 40ft
2. Shipping Container Conversions can make great classrooms at about a third of the cost of traditional buiding methods
3. Changing rooms can be made from 20ft containers and sited next to the sports field
4. Cycle stores made from used containers
5. Insulated shipping containers are often used to house musical instruments and additional computer equipment
6. Recycling/rubbish collection areas
7. After school clubs/common rooms can be made as a shipping container conversion and are frequently sited in the school car parking area
8. Chemical stores made from 10ft shipping containers

There are, of course, special considerations to be taken into account when buying and siting a shipping container in school grounds.   Not least of these is the need for health and safety which is why it is often worth asking the supplier of the container to deliver it at a time to suit the school timetable.   Most will be able to offer time slots early in the morning before the students arrive or whilst lessons are going on.  

20ft shipping container conversion

There has been a rise in the number of people that use shipping containers to make houses and other community buildings.   Architects have started designing more projects that rely on shipping container conversions for prestigious sites.

But why should you choose a shipping container as the basis for your building?

1. Shipping Containers are readily available with over a million being released by shipping lines each year
2. They are ecologically friendly - you would be giving something that is essentially an industrial waste product a new lease of life
3. Shipping containers are weather resistant being made out of corten steel and having water resistant seams and 27mm marine plywood floors
4. They can be quickly assembled on site
5. 20ft and 40ft shipping containers can be combined to make larger units quickly and easily
6. They are structurally very strong - shipping containers are used to support concrete bridges in states such as Utah
7. Shipping Container conversions can used other recycled materials such as windows and doors
8. The containers have a good fire resistance rating
9. The fact that containers are designed for transportation means that they are easy to get onto most sites
10. On average a shipping container home is 20-50% cheaper than a conventional construction project

In our next post we will look at some shipping container building projects to see just how well containers can be converted and how visually appealing they can be.

What can Shipping Containers do that can help with the flooding? 

The floods in Cumbria have meant that many peoples’ homes and businesses are under water.   Whilst the situation is still ongoing there is nothing they can do about their possessions but when the rivers eventually subside and repair work is carried out to their property shipping containers are ideal for emergency container storage for their possessions.   Guaranteed to be wind and watertight, shipping containers are designed to withstand marine conditions and so are ideal for secure storage.  Businesses can hire shipping container conversions in the form of site offices and site accommodation so that they can carry on working.

Many other countries use shipping containers for emergency accommodation and storage.   The Red Cross made use of 20ft containers during Hurricane Katrina both as stores and mobile first aid units.   Australia and New Zealand have regularly used Shipping Containers to provide shelter in remote areas.   The list goes on.   The fact is that the extemely robust nature of shipping containers and the fact that they are designed to be easily transported by air, road, sea or rail makes them ideal for many emergency situations.  

As the rain is due again this weekend, the news will focus on all those effected and we can only hope that there is as little damage to life and property as possible.   In the clear up that follows let us all hope that whatever help is needed is quickly offered - Shipping Containers will no doubt play their part.

Apparently the shipping container came about due to the fact that an American trucker, Malcolm McLean, whilst queuing at Jersey City Pier in 1937, realised that it would be quicker to have the whole truck body lifted onto the ship.   18 years later, he decided on the strength of that light-bulb moment, he bought a war-surplus tanker and equipped it to carry 33 ft containers.

In truth, ship lines and railways had been experimenting with containers for over half a century before 1937 but it took someone with the insight of McLean to realise that the real issue was making the transportation of cargo inter-modal - ie in a standard sized container that could move between rail, road and sea transport without the need for lots of manpower and many different sized machines.  The standard sized shipping containers meant that the prices of moving goods could be brought down and as a result the cost of many things became more affordable - and more varied - to the customer.

Today, the standard sizes of shipping containers are 40ft and 20ft containers.   There are other sizes available such as 8ft and 10ft but these are less common and often more expensive to transport - particularly by sea. 

Many ports were developed as a result of shipping containers - such as Felixstowe in Suffolk - able to take advantage of cheap land and good transport links.   Nowadays one-and-a-half million 40ft containers arrive at ports throughout the world each week.

One of the by products of this amount of containers is the market for second hand used containers.   The excess containers at ports are used for domestic storage, shipping container conversions such as offices and accommodation - even for housing data centres.

Whether or not there is any truth in Malcolm McLean’s “eureka” moment it certainly has had a big impact on all our lives.

Like most shipping containers, refrigerated containers are available for hire.   Christmas time with many suppliers needing additional storage is the most popular time period for refrigerated container hire.   Perhaps this is not surprising given all the traditional goodies from turkeys to cheese, smoked salmon to luxury icecreams that we eat during the holiday period.   Supermarkets and small producers in keeping up with this demand, hire the refrigerated containers between October to January just to fill orders.

Refrigerated containers are ideal as they are easily transportable and can be set at any temperature between -20C to +20C.   Most require 3 phase electricity although they can be run off diesel fuelled generators or “gen-sets”.  The most common sizes are 20ft and 40ft containers.

For those who have never hired a refrigerated container before there are a few important points to remember.  

• The length of the hire has an impact on the weekly rental cost of the container itself - normally there is a minimum hire period of at least 4 weeks - with the longer the period of hire being the most economic.   This is partly due to the fact that the refrigerated container itself needs a pre-trip inspection (PTI) by a refrigeration engineer which ensures that the container itself will be in good running condition prior to being delivered.
• Haulage.  Most hires require that the cost of the haulage from the depot to the delivery site as well as the cost of the haulage back from the delivery site to the depot is paid in advance.   This acts as a guarantee that should the customer default on payment the container can be collected.
• Breakdown.   In case of the unit failing, breakdown cover should be provided as part of the hire contract.   The speed of this is important as you don’t want to be left with a whole load of frozen turkeys defrosting at the beginning of December.

For those of you considering hiring a refrigerated container for Christmas it would be a good idea to start looking for a company to supply this now if you have not done so already.   Many companies have already hired out most of their containers and may therefore be unable to help.

Last September an exhibition made using shipping containers called “The Journey” was opened in Trafalgar Square.   This month this same exhibition opens in the US.  

Co-curated by actress Emma Thompson brings the reality of sex-trafficking to public attention.   Each of the seven shipping containers shows a different aspect of the life of Elena, a moldovan girl, sold into the sex trade when she was 19.

Shipping Containers are used to house the installation called "The Journey"

 The first shipping container is called Hopes, Dreams and Aspirations and shows the naivity of Elena and how she believed the promises of a good job as a receptionist in the UK.   From there a dark container filled with repetitive sounds speaks about the monotony and the violence of the journey to England.   A third container is called “Uniform” and projects the viewers face onto the bodies of prostitutes to show the lack of identity of sex workers.   The bedroom or workplace is featured in the fourth shipping container and the main focal bed is a filthy bed which pulses up and down.   The next container is a clean, neutral space with photographs of  people and represents “the customer”.  A sculpture is in the sixth container which is entitled the void that leads on the seventh and final container called “Language” in which Elena’s voice is played telling her story and that of other trafficked victims. 

Emma Thompson met Elena through the Helen Bamber charity of which she is Chairman.  “The Journey”  says Emma Thompson,  contains a message of hope. “It reveals — as I have learned from Elena and other survivors — the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit. It shows how, with support and care, these courageous women can rebuild their lives”.

There are many types of shipping container conversions.   Shipping Containers themselves, whether new or second hand containers, lend themselves to many projects large or small.  Their shape, and the fact that they are made of weather resistant corten steel, mean that they are very versatile and can be built up in blocks to many different configurations.    But how do you start planning such a project?

At the beginning of this year CS Shipping Containers were contacted by Chiswick Horticultural Association to quote - and then to build - a community centre which would be made out of seven second hand 20ft shipping containers.   It was to consist of a large open plan space with seperate areas for a kitchen and toilets.

But how do you go from a bare site, then groundworks as pictured above to having a completed project?

This series of posts will follow the progress of the project from when we received the order, the conversion of the individual units at the fabrication plant where the insulation, lighting and heating, toilets and kitchen were put into the shipping containers, the delivery and craning of the units onto the site, and the assembly itself.

For those planning multi-container conversions, this should give a better idea of what is involved.  They will compare the merits of using new shipping containers to used shipping containers, the ways in which containers can be got onto a site with restricted access, as well as general points to consider when planning a conversion.

Depending on what is to be stored in the containers the shipping container can be adapted specifically for purpose.   For example, should the chemicals be in easily handled, the chemical store can have the cheaper option of a bunded floor.  However, should the chemicals/hazardous goods be in large barrels then a sub floor sump can be put in.   There is the option of metal shelving, additonal insulation and ventilation - all of which can be put in according to the specific requirements.  Sizes range from 8ft to 40ft.

The addition of a lock cowl or lock box, together with a heavy duty, high security padlock makes the chemical store/agricultural store extremely safe from non-authorised access.   This gives flexibility as to where the store is to be sited.

chemical store with sump

chemical store with bund