Intermodal Containers-A thought for HAITI

Trains Magazine General Discussion
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Recently, there have been some threads concerning the intermodal shipping containers, and what to do with the apparently unneeded and excess containers in this country. Why not around the world?

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Lowe’ and Home Depot, as I recall sponsored a project to create a low cost housing alternative for the population that was rendered homeless in the wake of the Hurricane. Those ‘Katrina Cabins’ were esentially created on the footprint of the intermodal shipping container.

My thought is; since there is reportedly a building excess of these containers, specifically in this country’s ports, why not send them to the Haitians. They are strong structurally, they can be converted to an emergency shelter for a family, could comprise a structure with internals suited for occupancy by a family of several members, plumbed for sanitation, cooking, etc. Or a group could be structured around a group with common sanitary accomodations. The possibilities could be individualized for the immediate needs of the intended populations.

Surplus containers could be moved rapidly in bulk by ships to the areas of need. They could be constructed at the point of use or customized at an origin source and then sent ready to use to the needy area. Would solve the surplus and old,used container problem. Certainly the things are apparently constructed easily and relatively inexpensively at the sources in Asia. Just my thoughts. I am sure the folks here will have their own suggestions as well.

Anyway, it was just a thought ,and here is a link to a site that features BOb Vila, and some ideas abou this subject.

http://video.bobvila.com/m/21320565/

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CNN is reporting today (1/22) that the Port in Haiti is finally able to it’s first incoming cargo since the quake…1/2 of 1 pier and they hope to be able to handle 250 containers of relief supplies today, for the full days effort. The first order of business is to get relief supplies unloaded and distributed. It will be some time before other needs can be addressed.

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I have wondered about this for years , not only for Haiti but for the homeless and poor in this country .

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Thanks for that link - this is yet another minor interest of mine, but I was not aware of it. There are some others, but I don’t have those links handy right now. Although Vila seems to focus on storm resistance, they are stiff and rigid enough to survive most earthquakes, too - at least within each unit - not too confident about connections of several together, though.

Some of which are also known as ‘‘Katrina Cottages’’. My wife has said several time that she wants one . . .[:-^]

I believe that Dwell magazine - which seems to cater to a readership that is about as opposite from Haiti as can be imagined - has nevertheless had a lot of interest in and has sponsored several design competitions and actual projects based on pre-fab buildings, including containers. Nonetheless, I don’t think any of those would be suitable here, either.

But let me be a ‘Devil’s advocate’ for a moment here. Suppose a ship-load of appropriately modified containers shows up at Haiti’s port. Let’s assume that the derricks/ cranes on that ship are capable of unloading them - 1 or 2 at a time - and booming them out over the side to get onto the wharf itself. Let’s further assume that there are enough trucks of whatever configuration - flat-bed, low-boy, roll-back, straight-frame, etc. - to accept them, in either the 20 ft. or 40 ft. lengths - and enough drivers, fuel, and roadways in passable condition to get them to where they are needed. Then -

How do you unload them at the using end ? There aren’t going to be any ‘PiggyPackers’ in Haiti or other disaster areas. Can we safely assume that there’s going to be enough large truck cranes or rough-terrain cranes available

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Pardon the Pun- “I guess I’ve opened a can of worms!”[:P]

But I thought after posting, I’d look in Google; searching “Katrina Cottages,Intermodal containers,” I found this site linked,(here as well), Among many other sites found linked there:

http://www.architectureweek.com/cgi-bin/wlk?http://home.comcast.net/~plutarch/

It shows a number of uses for used containers from all over. Apparently the going price for the "standard’ 45’er is somewhere between $4 thousand and $5.5 thousand. And one seems only limited by individual imigination. One thing seems for sure, in Haiti, where there are apparently no building codes, these things would make some solid dewllings for the population.

To partially address some of Paul North’s concerns: Right now shiping concerns are tied to conditions in the port. I have no idea as to equipment availability for transport in Haiti as well, I would guess it is a "mess’ right now.

To unload them would be another issue, a container finished in side would of course require pretty gently handling, heavy forklift or crane would be possibilities. Unfinished, unloading could be ‘rougher’ by dragging off with some kind of available construction equipment could be possibilities. My guess would be that due to the economic problems in Haiti (abject poverty,history of kleptocratic governments, etc.) this project would be handled by non-governmental chartable operations of one sort or another.

Groups of containers could be placed in organized areas with access to central sanitary facilities, or where access to individualized plumbing would be available. Some more thoughts.

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Shove them off the flat bed trailer. It would be loading back up that would be the trick… They’d make good shelters - probably a lot better than most Haitians used to have…

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um…the plumbing at the delivery end is gonna be one of the devils in the details. (along with glass)

…more like easy-bake ovens in the tropics.

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Hey Sam- Aren’t these containers we’re talking about the same ones that ride on railroads in our country? [:P]

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Paul,

I would hazard, based on your apparent education, and your ability to express yourself that you have had the opportunity to visit countries that are, by US standards, truly poor or impoverished.

Never underestimate the ability of these people to accomplish things in way we would never think of.

Trust me, get enough Haitians and enough wooden poles, and they will not only get the containers off the trailer, they will move them a tremendous distance.

As for amenities like plumbing and windows , well, they don’t really have what we Americans think of as a modern infrastructure.

There are three type of people in Haiti, the haves, the have nots and the middle class.

The haves will, for the most part, leave the country as soon as they can, because they can afford to.

Or they will be the first to rebuild.

This is a very caste stratified culture.

The have nots are the ones the TV news folks are shoving into your face every evening at 5:30.

The middle class live in a state we would think of a poor.

They have homes, but use a communal water supply, maybe have inside toilets, and pretty much live quite similar to the way American rural farmers would live at the turn of the last century.

The have nots, before the quake, lived in what we would call shacks, built of scrap corrugated tin, scavenged lumber, stuff we would throw in the trash.

These people are used to making do with what we call junk, they can improvise on a moments notice.

If you have ever seen films of the slums in India, that come close to how these people live.

Trust me, if you could get the boxes there, they can and will find a way to make homes out them.

The real problem is there is no place to dock the boat, and when you can get the boat dockside, the graft and corruption that is the normal manner business is conducted will end up giving the boxes out as favors for favors, if you follow.

Unless you can find a way t

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To Murphy S. and switch123, and Muddy Feathers::

To Murphy Siding; The Containers I am discussing are the very ones that are railroad freight and pass by my hometown by he hundreds every day in both directions, so I thought the discussion of their use would be fair game on this forum about things railroadand railroad oriented. As Bob Vila pointed out in the originally linked video there are thousands of these containers piling up at various locations around the country.

To switch123: I regret to say I have not traveled to Hispaniola (home of Haiti and the Dominican Republic). I have personally known some haitians and some former residents of the D.R. And in school, I produced a project paper on Haiti, which research, for me was really personally illuminating.

The Haitian people are a very resiliant, and certainly individually industrious people. Who have survivd and thrived in a less-than-optimum social, and political environment, while being politically forced to live in somewhat oppressive circumstances, with immigration very hard to accomplish from their home country. Haiti with an average annual income that puts Haiti near the bottom of the nations in the global economy and individual earning of something around $2.00 per day (CIA Fact Book): https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html? countryName=Haiti&countryCode=ha&regionCode=ca&rank=203#ha

To Mud Chicken: Your point of the Intermodal Shipping Container being a virtual oven in a tropical environment is to the point, accurate. But I think there are alternatives to counteract the heating, in the link to the video in my original posting, there is mention of a thermal

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In the end, I would think it would be easier to forget trying to make containers into something other than containers. The time, money and resources used to try and turn a metal box into habitable space would likely be more than simply starting from scratch and building something in a more conventional way.

Haiti being such a poor country even before the earthqauke meant that much of the population lived in what could best be described as shacks. It seems like the short term answer would be building simple, quick housing that, at this point would be about one step above a tent city. You can’t build a better mousetrap by reinventing the wheel.

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There was a news item a couple of years ago about the British turning containers into apartment buildings, so the idea is not as bad as some people think.

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It would be a good idea for the railroads to contract with FEMA to have containers built for living, have them in a staging are ready to be loaded on trains to disaster areas, while having chassis and trucks on the trains as well for unloading. This could work domestically, but in Haiti’s case have trucks, chassis, and unloaders sent to ports first and ships full of livable containers ready to be unloaded. Side note: why is every message I put on threads not have my spaces between paragraphs, it has been doing this for a couple of weeks now.