On several occasions in these Forums we have had discussions about the "re-purposing of the ubiquitous Shipping Containers ( estimates are in the millions?) that seem to pile up around the Country from time to time.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina ( August/Sept 2005) which did some $80 Billion Dollars in damages across the Gulf Coast. Immediately, creating the need for Emergency housing across the Gulf Region. Thus was born, the " Katrina Cabin" its various versions, and discussions in these Forums about the re-purposing of those Shipping Containers.
So we come to these days and apparently New York City is being pro active in discovering new Emergency Housing for potential; disasters. See following linked article
It seems they are opting for a new solution for a problem that has been around, and a solution already proved useful in other Emergencies. Those same containers seem to still be around and should be a lot cheaper to repurpose faster and cheaper than their “New” solution?
The linked article makes no mention of Costs or Logistics for movement to end use sites.
After a brief ‘search’ " Housing Units from Used Shipping Containers" turned up an number of informational sites
The only difference is that the NYC containers have insulation, plumbing, electrical, windows, doors ventilation, heating, cooling and interior walls while the shipping container is just a big metal box.
My point was that the Shipping Containers [ as a blank canvas ] already exist and are capable of being utilized, or re-purposed for housing. So the process would start with a Shipping Container that was apparently, de facto abandoned;, after arriving here and unloaded. It has been mentioned in other articles/stories that these Steel Boxes (containers) can be built so cheaply in Asia that they are paid for in one loaded trip(?).
All the appointments you mentioned, as they are originally lacking, can be provided in a remanufacturing process. It seems such a waste to ‘scrap them out’ rather than trying to repurpose the Shipping Container. Even if the repurposing took pace in a remote location, they still are capable of rail transportation to an area of need for Emergency housing…
Those left over storage containers have become the go-to rental and long-term lease storage for many commericial, industrial, and municipal concerns, although at 8ft/2.4m exterior width, they are not all that great for everyday usage as garages - since even subcompact Nissan Versas are 5ft7in wide - not a lot of room left to get out when you think about it - which is too bad as I could certainly see wider ones being useful - perhaps two welded together as a double-wide. It seems over the past 3 decades containers have replaced one of the modelers’ favorite - the de-trucked boxcar mounted on blocks or old ties - for storage (I wonder if tank containers are being repurposed for storage - although there does seem to be a lot less of those in service in any case).
Perhaps they are better than repurposed trailers for temporary work-site trailer usage (I’ve been in some storage containers - in their natural state they kind of suck as a work environment, and need a decent amount of modifications (windows and vents) to be bearable as an office over a workday.
I wonder if the great container “mountains” found at most North American ports during the turn of the century have been dealt with - perhaps by loading on a regular schedule the crappiest of the unused containers onto flatcars and sending them to the nearest electric arc furnance for melting for reuse…
Before 2007, the cost to move the steel international containers back to China was equal to or more that the scrap price of the steel. The ‘Katrina Cabins’ concept was a good use of a resource that was accumulating around many container yards.
As the Chinese economy weakened, containers started to get shipped back for re-use.This appeared to be driven by the cost of steel(scrap prices were going up). I have seen container yards empty for a number of years, then start a slow ‘fill’ again in the past 2 years. Scrap prices are still pretty high, but I suspect new containers are being shipped back - only older or damaged ones seem to hang around. Anyone here in the industry care to comment about the container situation?
In many other parts of the world, the re-utilization of shipping containers as “prefab” buildings is quite commonplace.
There have been some examples in the U.S as well, a few blocks from my current place of business there is a small office building made from containers…