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18 Aug

Posted at 13:34h in Articles

Five Ways Shipping Container Conversions Can Improve Mining Efficiency The primary purpose of those metal boxes on the docksides of all major ports is to facilitate loading and transporting cargo by road, rail, and sea. However, they are often used for only a few journeys. After that, their usual fate was to be sold for scrap or to another one-time user or just left to gather dust. However, around 1987, a man named Philip Clark filed a patent for a method he devised to adapt these metal storage boxes for use as homes. Since then, shipping container conversions have become a global industry with clients in many key sectors, from education and healthcare to construction and mineral exploitation. In practice, this trend has gained traction in the mining industry, where it has been found to enhance efficiency in five critical ways. Let’s review these in more detail. Lower Maintenance Costs: These robust steel boxes were built to last. Even after they are refurbished, they will stand up to extreme weather conditions and the harsh conditions typical of the mining work environment. Under these conditions, you can expect around 25 years of service from shipping container conversions. By comparison, the average wood and vinyl job-site trailer will rarely...

18 Aug

Posted at 12:27h in Articles

Providing adequate classroom accommodation, especially in rural areas, has been a long-standing challenge in South Africa. Building costs are high and they continue to increase. By contrast, education budgets are woefully inadequate, repeatedly failing to keep pace with inflation. The result is that teachers are often expected to work in cramped premises with class numbers too large to be manageable. Fortunately, there is now a potential solution. Used shipping containers can be converted into anything from a luxury summerhouse or site office to a fully equipped classroom for a fraction of the cost of a conventional bricks-and-mortar build. Why Are Shipping Containers Ideal for Classrooms? Two features of these units make them ideal for building purposes. Firstly, their steel bodies are strong enough to withstand repeated handling by dockside cranes and the extreme weather conditions often faced by ocean-going vessels. Secondly, their rectangular shape and standardised dimensions are ideal for use in modular structures. Individually, they provide the framework for a single classroom. However, one could construct an entire school by welding several shipping containers together. However, these rectangular metal boxes are not only a means to develop a facility from scratch. They can also be the answer when it is necessary to expand the accommodation of...

15 Jul

Posted at 11:01h in Articles

When an American trucker named Malcolm McLean commissioned the first standard-sized metal boxes for transporting road and sea freight, he could not have foreseen the impact of his innovative idea. Firstly, his invention slashed loading and unloading times, substantially reducing the cost of handling. More significantly, he initiated the growth of a massive global industry. Today, his original batch of 58 steel storage containers seems somewhat less noteworthy, given that the total number now exceeds 17 million. While around 5 million of these are at sea at any given time, the vast majority are onshore. Some await loading at quaysides while others wait for dockyard cranes to unload them or haulage companies to collect them. However, the growing number of empty, unused units has inspired some to explore alternative uses for these iconic metal boxes in recent years. One of the simplest of the various available options is to repurpose them as storage containers. Depending on what one may wish to store and for how long, it may be unnecessary to make more than a few minor modifications, making this a much cheaper option than purchasing a purpose-built facility. Furthermore, these units are designed to withstand rough handling and extreme weather for 20 years or...

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