I have a 40 foot shipping container I need to put on a piece of land. The land is uneven bare earth.

 

What is going to be the best way to get the container raised up off the ground enough to stop it getting flooded, and keep it stable and level?

 

The gross weight of the container and contents would be about 20 metric tonnes, evenly distributed along the length of the container.

 

I was thinking about six poured concrete pillars - one on each corner and two in the middle.

 

Is that practical? If so, what kind of depth/foundation/base would the pillars need?

 

All hints and tips gratefully received, as it's up to me to instruct the builders what will need doing.

 

I can't have the container sinking or becoming uneven in the future.

5 hours ago, blackcab said:

I was thinking about six poured concrete pillars - one on each corner and two in the middle.

Sounds about right. You might want a small foundation between the pillars and construct a single row of block right round otherwise you'll have all sorts of critters living underneath.

 

5 hours ago, blackcab said:

Is that practical? If so, what kind of depth/foundation/base would the pillars need?

Depends on the ground subsoil type. Is the ground virgin ground or made-up subsoil brought in?

6 hours ago, blackcab said:

I was thinking about six poured concrete pillars - one on each corner and two in the middle.

The only advantage of using 6 posts against 4 would be sharing the point loading, all containers are designed such that the 4 corners can take the whole load, including the contents.

The posts would need to be properly set in to the ground to prevent them from sinking, ideally making a raft similar to a house, so that the whole thing moves relative, but that might be expensive.

Would it be worth looking at making a concrete base first, then just putting the container up on blocks after that? (don't put it directly on the floor, as it will rot)

Depending on how long the container will sit for, then I'd make sure that it is well protected paint wise, especially the underneath, as they rot very easily in this climate, then when it is time to lift it back up again the problems starts, been there done that!

Another point, it is critical that the container sits as level as possible, otherwise over time the doors will be difficult to open and close, containers are designed to flex whilst on a ship, so when on land and not level they easily warp.

Filled cement pipes on standard Thai construction footings. The method is used to support or fix old wood houses.

 

19 minutes ago, Fruit Trader said:

 

 

Thank you for the picture - using pipe is a good idea.

 

Does anyone have any idea about:

 

a. the amount/type of steel mesh required inside the concrete

 

b. what the pipe sits on under the ground?

 

Thank you all for your help.

3 hours ago, grollies said:

Depends on the ground subsoil type. Is the ground virgin ground or made-up subsoil brought in?

 

It's the original soil with about 1 metre of clay type soil on top that was added a couple of years ago

9 minutes ago, blackcab said:

 

Thank you for the picture - using pipe is a good idea.

 

Does anyone have any idea about:

 

a. the amount/type of steel mesh required inside the concrete

 

b. what the pipe sits on under the ground?

 

Thank you all for your help.

10mm rebar all round will do but be sure to dig to solid ground. 

 

Looks like you got your answers. Digging to solid ground as Fruit Trader says is important.

UPDATE: So it turns out the ground is soft clay for quite a way down (it's in Bangkok).

 

It was mentioned that if we really want to do this then each supporting post would need to be piled first.

 

As an alternative the same person suggested laying a concrete slab and then sitting the container on top.

 

Is this realistic? If so, how thick should the concrete be? What about the metal reinforcing?

A floating slab could be your solution for a lightweight structure. The idea being to spread the load across a large area of poor ground. It's effectively the same as plonking your container directly on the ground, at least loading wise.

 

Guesstimate, 120mm thick with 6mm x 200mm mesh reinforcement about 30% from the top surface.

 

You'll need to remove the topsoil and drop in 100mm of hardcore / gravel before placing the concrete.

 

http://www.abuildersengineer.com/2013/01/design-example-floating-slab.html

 

Why fool around with a metal shipping container? Metal absorbs heat, expands and contracts, conducts lightening and electricity, rusts.... sure it looks cool but who needs it?

Concrete Railway Sleepers. You can double them up if you need higher and also shim a corner to make it level if need be. No diigging required. I would use 4 under a 40ft. 

 

What are you using it for? If just storage, I would just put a nice block under each corner and shim it level.

As it settles, you can re-shim easily with a jack.

If you want it permanent and close to the ground, I’d pour a slab with a porch on the open end and a skirt around the rest of the perimeter.

You do not want to end up with a snake harbor...

For the site office containers on the building site opposite my condo in BKK they just pushed in 6 precast piles, probably 5 meters long, using the bucket of a digger and left about 20 cms above ground. Put a rebar cage over that, some formwork approx 50cms square and hand mixed concrete poured into that. Containers placed in position the next morning, job done.

For the site office containers on the building site opposite my condo in BKK they just pushed in 6 precast piles, probably 5 meters long, using the bucket of a digger and left about 20 cms above ground. Put a rebar cage over that, some formwork approx 50cms square and hand mixed concrete poured into that. Containers placed in position the next morning, job done.

For 5m footings for a temporary office? Yikes!

On 8/17/2018 at 3:59 PM, mogandave said:

 

For 5m footings for a temporary office? Yikes!

 

Well one of the contractors put their storage container straight on the ground...one end has sunk into the mud and it is at a noticeable angle ! Luckily it was the back end, not the doors end so they can still get inside.

On 8/17/2018 at 3:59 PM, mogandave said:

 

For 5m footings for a temporary office? Yikes!

 

If you've seen how easily piles go in then it's probably not too much

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipcd3iz7zgM