Shipping Containers Blog

Posts Tagged ‘steel shipping containers’

What on earth does a shipping container have to do with the Internet?   It does not seem like an obvious combination.  Large , industrial steel containers designed to be able to move cargo easily about the world don’t seem to have anything to offer the highly technological world of the Internet.  Yet, the very versatility and inherent strength of these containers mean that they do have a part to play.

Most of us have heard of the Internet Archive.   It was set up as a giant internet “library” which allows people to view any page on the internet from 1996 to the present day.   It is primarily meant as a resource for researchers, scholars and historians as it allows permanent access to all internet content.  An amazing undertaking.  Yet it doesn’t stop there.   The Internet Archive has now been expanded so that it also records programmes from tv channels worldwide, as well as films, music etc.

All that information - some 3,145,728 GB of web pages at the present time (and growing) - needs to be housed securely and  Sun Microsystems developed a modular infrastructure that is housed in a customised enclosure known as a Petabox.   Still with me?   Because now we get to the relevant bit.   These Petaboxes are packaged into a 20ft shipping container.  Why a shipping container?   The very construction of these units make them ideal for storage containers.   They are made of highly rust resistant and strong corten steel, are designed for easy transportation, and can be easily stacked like lego as the archive grows.   They can be insulated and modified to maintain ideal climatic conditions for storing data.  In short, shipping containers make ideal data centres as they allow them to be both secure and self contained.

Currently, it is an amazing fact that what is one of - if not the largest - digital archive in the world is housed in a 20ft shipping container.  Other companies such as Dell, Microsoft and Google, to name but a few, are also using shipping containers to house their own data centres in various locations around the world - some even off shore.  A whole new use for shipping containers.   Whoever would have thought that combining cutting edge technology with steel shipping containers could be so successful?

I am often asked “your second hand container won’t be all rusty will it?”

Shipping containers are made out of corten steel. Why, I am often asked, is corten steel so special? Why not just use ordinary steel instead?

Wikepedia defines corten steel as “Weathering steel, best-known under the trademark COR-TEN steel, is a group of steel alloys which were developed to obviate the need for painting, and form a stable rust-like appearance if exposed to the weather for several years”. What this actually means is that due to the chemical make-up of corten steel it has an increased resistance to weather corrosion. In short corten steel forms a protective surface layer that acts as a weather proof barrier. Very useful in a steel container that is primarily designed to withstand salt water and the extreme conditions found at sea.

But if the corten steel container is painted a weather proof layer does not have a chance to form. It is no more effective against the climate than normal unalloyed steel. So why do shipping lines bother to paint their containers? Apart from the obvious advertising benefits of having a ship stacked with boxes all carrying your logo, shipping containers do not stay pristine. The moving of the containers on and off ships does result in the steel shipping containers getting knocked and the paintwork scraped leaving the steel exposed underneath. That is where the fact the containers are made of corten steel is an advantage, because, rather like putting a plaster on a cut, the corten steel starts to form its protective layer when exposed to the weather and prolongs the life of the steel shipping container. No need to repaint!

The rust proof qualities of corten steel are not only put to use in shipping but in other industries such as construction. Many buildings, such as the The U.S. Steel Tower in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania have been made out of corten steel. There is, of course, a crossover between shipping containers and construction which is largely due to the corten steel. Nowadays, shipping container conversions have become popular not only because of the green credentials of recycling an industrial product but because of the strong construction and weatherproofing that is inherent in the steel shipping container itself. There are numerous examples of projects that use shipping containers that our previous blogs have highlighted, but, at the risk of repeating myself, new readers only have to look at projects such as Container City or Riverside House to see what can be done. These are of course, container conversions on a large scale. The properties of shipping containers can also be utilised in smaller conversions such as offices, site accommodation and storage containers.

So next time you look at a second hand steel shipping container and see what appears to be a brown patina where the paint has scraped off, remember that it may not be rust at all, but the weatherproofing layer formed by the corten steel itself.

CS Shipping Containers provide steel shipping and storage  containers for sale and hire to individuals and companies in all parts of the UK. Our clients have a broad spectrum of storage needs which we are only too happy to help and advise on. Our containers can be delivered to you at your convenience or, if preferred, can be collected from our nearest  depot.

We offer a wide range of ex-factory and second user storage containers for sale, ideal for the storage of everything from industrial products to on-site sports equipment etc. To keep your container theft proof, we also offer security accessories, such as padlocks and lockboxes. Other products include moisture traps and ‘Grafo’ anti-condensation coating.

Our units can be converted to meet most customer requirements, for example they can be modified into office accommodation, workshops and garages, chemical stores, smoking shelters and even observatories and recording studios.

Our customers’ needs are varied. We supply individuals, small business, education, agricultural, construction and corporate clients.