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Shipping container bunker

61K views 56 replies 36 participants last post by  longhorngnu 
#1 ·
I have read many posts about how you cant burry a shipping container because they wont support the weight of the dirt above them. This is true to an extent. Forum member "Temu" has proven there are ways around this.

I think I have found another way to make a bunker out of these shipping containers.

What if you dig a hole deep enough to drop a container into, where the roof of the container is say a few feet below ground level. Then instead of burrying it you stack another container on top of it. The second container on top would be filled with dirt half way, or more if possible. These containers are built to be stackable, and the 4 corners support tremendous amounts of weight.

My thinking is you now have a container burried underground by a layer of steel and several feet of earth.

Anyone have any feedback on this idea?
 
#48 ·
Sorry but if I was going underground I would prefer a 12-16ft corrugated steel culvert. Weld caps on the ends and cut a hole in the top for a access tunnel- another corrugated steel culvert going vertical. Made to be underground. Round to resist forces and end caps re-enforced to resist the loads. Those that don't read or understand the above post by Renaissance Ronin should read him again. You might just learn something.
I have had two containers. I would never put them under ground. They make great above ground line shacks though. Mine were the frozen food containers. They were super insulated with stainless steel inside walls.
 
#49 ·
Why so much emphasis on shipping containers? Why not got with like a 6 feet concrete block wall with rounded metal culvert overhead? The rounded culvert material should take stress a lot better and it should be a lot easier with which to work. And you can add on to your underground structure as time and money allows.
 
#50 ·
under ground container

you can barry them with dirt 10 feet above the roof. these people who say you cant never looked it up. when they are stacked how much weight you think that is? they can hold 60k of weight on top you must weld a i beam on the edges on top. then use like tin in the middle they use cor-gated steel. like they use on a walk way on top the i beams . these people who say u cant are going on there opinion .earth quakes wont make them buckle how if that was true when the seas got bad they all would get wrecked. think about that statement makes no sense.
 
#51 ·
thats not true .u must weld i beams o the edges on top to put the center of weight on the edges . how do you think they stack them thats more weight than say 10 feet of dirt on the roof or edges .when u weld the i beams . put tin in the middle you put the corgated metal the walk way kind across the i beams it can handle the weight .
 
#53 ·
An acquaintance spent 40k on his shipping container shelter. Corten steel, newer connex, escape hatch, main entrance, NBC air filter you name it. The roof buckled terribly once it had about 4' of dirt on it. The sides then buckled the next day during heavy rains. It had to have the dirt removed by hand with shovels from the top, removed and repaired. Another 12k total. This is a complete waste of time. Use steel culvert pipe or concrete. I don't speak up much on here. When I do I know what I'm talking about. Despite what you may read, hear or have seen the engineering specs don't physically support a container lasting in normal conditions for long. Some may last longer than others. Some could last 20 years. Some fail day 1. A steel culvert can be buried 31' deep and is designed to do so.
 
#54 ·
Glad I saw this thread because I've been wondering about this topic as well. Sounds like standard "basement" construction would be the best way to go. By the time you reinforce the roof and walls with concrete, you could've just omitted the container! Besides, from a simple square footage standpoint, the closer you get to a square structure the more sq ft you have for the same linear wall footage. Extreme example: 10x10 room has 100 sq ft and 40 linear foot of wall. A 19x1 room still has 40 linear foot of wall, but only has 19 sq ft area. Of course from a cost standpoint, even though your saving on linear wall, it probably equals back out because your roof is bigger as well. And a square isn't always the best layout for storage.
 
#57 ·
Con tech is a place to start. They specialize in galvanized drain systems. Including large diameter CMP, bridges and other structures. Generally available nation wide. And they have engineers on staff.

Another alternative is large diameter underground detention basins. Commonly used to capture and store onsite rainfall and prevent runoff from your building site. Those are becoming increasingly popular in AZ projects that I've seen. Might find an off the shelf solution?
 
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