Everybody wants to save the earth, nobody wants to help mom do the dishes.  --P.J. O'Rourke

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Why Not?

This morning I was listening to yet another story about junky Katrina trailers when the following
occurred to me. Why not use shipping containers as emergency housing.  I don't mean that people
should live in empty steel boxes, I was thinking more of the type I wrote about HERE.  My Logic is as follows.

Containers are:

1. Cheap
2. Extremely durable (Easily Hurricane Proof)
3. Stack able up to 14 High
4. Standardized around the world.
5. Easily transported intermodally

The Durability and Uniquely portable nature of containers makes them ideal.  
They could be stored near frequent trouble spots (Hurricane Alley, The Gulf of Mexico etc.) without risk of damage or vandalism.  Rapidly deployed, loaded and unloaded via existing transit methods of Truck, Ship or Train.  And because the walls of containers are not load bearing they could be built like the design I posted earlier and closed up when not in use.  Best of all, because they are standard around the world, the design and construction could be universally applicable 
from Darfur to Dartmouth. Personally I think it's a slam dunk, am I missing something?


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