Friday, May 20, 2011

Praxis: Amazing. The tent that turns into concrete in less than 24 hours. Plus, turning a shipping container into an underground shelter.

BBC video here. Here's another:



Plus, I found this video on turning a shipping container into an underground shelter.

9 comments:

PT said...

Those concrete shelters look like a pretty good temporary/longer term shelter. Seems like they would be useful in a place frequented by tornadoes or hurricanes.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for these great videos!
Too bad I live in a area controlled by petty tyrant bureaucrats who won't allow such structures (well for now anyway).

Mark Matis said...

If somebody finds your shipping container "cellar" while you are trying to hide in it, the air vents should make it easy for them to dispose of you, after which they can take what they want...

Anonymous said...

Never bury a shipping container!
Those things are incredibly strong at the corners only. They are not meant to resist the kinds of dead loads that earth imparts. I have first hand knowledge of this. You are taking your life into your hands if you backfill against a Conex and/or cover the top with dirt. Consider the "least-worst" scenario where the earth causes the container to distort, thereby rendering the door permanently closed.

Anonymous said...

NEVER BURY A SHIPPING CONTAINER!!!!!!!!! THIS IS A TRAINWRECK LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO HAPPEN!! I have experience with buried refer boxcars that are stronger than shipping containers. It was a popular idea around here in the 70s. Not one of them are usable. Ours is done almost identical to the conex video and it ain't no good!!!! $12,500 down the sewer!!!

john d said...

That looks like it may work. Now I agree that if your using the stock doors your asking for it. Then again I would suggest parking that closer to the house or another structure so the vent pipes don;t give you away.

Loren said...

Conerns about the strengths of shipping containers are legitimate, but there are two important things to look at on this build:

The concrete roof is supported while being built, and will have it's own structural integrity. Not sure about having the sides supported by the soil around it though.

The walls aren't being backfilled on. Take it for what it's worth.

I'd say this project would have been better done with using the shipping container as the inside walls of forms for the walls as well as the roof. That would help support the whole thing, and allow you to backfill, which I think would help the setup.

Anonymous said...

1. I am SO sick of any bureaucrat telling me what I can build on my OWN property.
2. Thought the same of the air vents. Easily closed off and goodnight for you.
3. LOTS of folks advise against conex boxes. Digging the holes the hardest part ( aside from not letting my suburban neighbors know what I am up to). May as well dig the whole and use concrete-reinforced blocks. Probably wouldn't be more money.

An aside...in the next year I'll know if my 25 year marriage will still be intact. At that point, I will sell the house and move into an apartment in NYC with the understanding that I get to buy retreat land elsewhere -OR_ I'm on my own and I build whatever the F%$& I want.

Any experience out there with cinder block structures?????

Anonymous said...

Do a web search for bomb shelters. There are a couple of companies in the US that design/build them. They can have NBC air systems, and lots of other options. Designed to handle nearby nuke strikes, if properly buried.
They explain how bad shipping containers are, if buried.
You can hook up multiple shelters to handle bigger groups. Typically, they are sized to handle a family with one unit. Costs vary depending on what options are selected.