Build railing on top of shipping container?

[HurtYurt]

Hi

My camp has been fortunate enough to get a shipping container this year.
We're thinking of adding a ladder and railing on top of it, so we're thinking on how to best design it for safety and least amount of PITA to setup.
Besides pictures, we haven't seen the top of one in person.

Does anyone have experiences or ideas on how to do this?

[lemur]

if its got pin points on the corners one may be able to bolt things into those.. but, theres likely nothing to bolt on to in the middle... itd have to be some beefy stuff on those corners to hold someone leaning on it



if you want to keep it water/weather tight odds are your options are limited outside of those pinpoints (or, could cause extra problems you might not want to deal with.. like sealing stuff)

[some seeing eye]

Weld some bolts on the angle iron that forms the top corner, bolt rail to that, cantilevering the rail post down the side of the container. You can grind them off when you sell the container. If you set the depth on your drill, you can drill the top edge angle iron in the spots where there is a negative space in the corrugations.

You never know what kind of clamps you can find at a scaffolding, machine shop fixturing, or welding store. You could build a plywood and lumber floor for the roof and work your bolting off that. Be sure it does not blow off.

The size of the top edge angle iron varies between containers.

[Odie]

I own a 20' container used for storage, the strength of the container comes from the ribs on the sides and the end steel used to stack the containers together. The top is basically a thin piece of steel, So I would highly consider the number of people you also allow climb on-board, if safety is a concern that you speak. The top is ribbed and I just checked and had about 1" deflection in the center with me standing on it (170lb). You could also prop a pole in the center to add strength to the center. just my 2 pennies. PM me if you questions or want any pictures..

[Crockett]

My camp is acquiring one of those 20' storage containers this year and we're also interested in building some sort of temporary platform for the top of it. I don't know much about carpentry so I'm looking for ideas on how to build a platform and ladder or staircase to ascend it.

HurtYurt, did your camp end up figuring something out?

We may end up with a few extra spots in our theme camp this year for folks who can contribute to a project like this and we have the means to fundraise for building supplies. The idea is that it would be a lounge where our campers and visitors can take in views of the playa and camps around us, while increasing our visibility so we can welcome more people to join us and hang out at our camp during the day. The lounge should consist of:
1) A stable and well-lit means of accessing the lounge.
2) A comfortable and covered area with seating for 10+ people.
3) Railings for safety.
4) Possibly a small DJ booth for our parties and for friendly interaction with passersby.

Many thanks!

[trilobyte]

Congratulations and welcome to the site, you've successfully replied to a long-dead thread from last year's event.

You're going to want to recruit some people with carpentry skills, or spend an awful long time puttering around in a backyard or workspace. People could get hurt if badly made stairs collapse or if a railing fails.

[mdmf007]

Purchase ISO locks and you can remove your rails for transport or when you sell the container etc. They shouldnt cost more than 20 bucks each. PM me if you need suppliers.

1.25 inch black steel pipe is rated over 20 feet for handrail, if you add one intermediate stiffener in the standard three rail configuration. While the roof is not rated for cargo, there is no amount of people you can fit on it that will buckle it (unless it is a rotted container) We regularly have containers arrive in our ports with tens of thousands of ponds of gear stacked on top without any dunnage or bracing at all.I have seen gravel piled three feet deep on them as well.

I am not going to stamp that print with my name though.

MDMF

[Crockett]

Thank you very much for the advice, trilobyte and MDMF! I am passing this project onto some others in my camp so I will share your tidbits.

-Crockett!

[Stickygreen]

Weld some bolts on the angle iron that forms the top corner, bolt rail to that, cantilevering the rail post down the side of the container. You can grind them off when you sell the container. If you set the depth on your drill, you can drill the top edge angle iron in the spots where there is a negative space in the corrugations.

You never know what kind of clamps you can find at a scaffolding, machine shop fixturing, or welding store. You could build a plywood and lumber floor for the roof and work your bolting off that. Be sure it does not blow off.

The size of the top edge angle iron varies between containers.

Better yet, weld nut to the inside of the angle iron, where the corrugated steal sides go inwards, that way you have no protruding metal, and nothing to get damaged. Then you're railings will be a bolt on affair. Also as noted you will need to make a platform for people to stand on, as the metal ceiling of the container is not strong enough. Plywood, and 2x4 will suffice for this, and could be built on playa if you're careful with sawdust.

[cupcake_tetris]

Hello Crockett and all!

My camp is in the lucky position this year to have a container being shipped to the playa. We are so excited, both as it makes yearly logistics so much easier and also that we have this awesome structure to play with. We are keen to build a container top deck.

Crockett, how did it work out? Do you have any designs for a container-top deck w handrails? I would love to pick your brain how you did it!

Are you able to post pics?

Thanks!

[ygmir]

Hello Crockett and all!

My camp is in the lucky position this year to have a container being shipped to the playa. We are so excited, both as it makes yearly logistics so much easier and also that we have this awesome structure to play with. We are keen to build a container top deck.

Crockett, how did it work out? Do you have any designs for a container-top deck w handrails? I would love to pick your brain how you did it!

Are you able to post pics?

Thanks!

you need something for people to stand on, the roof material, is not made for direct load, just to seal out weather.

[Crockett]

Last year we didn't have the budget or expertise to build a full on deck so we just secured plywood to the top and climbed over a truck to get up there. That was nice, but without the handrails you can't really have more than a handful of people on top safely.

[cupcake_tetris]

Okay thanks!!

[uberjustin]

we use multiple shipping containers at our camp at Nowhere in Spain. off the back of that, and realising how hard it was to attach things to them, I invented a new product for attaching various things to shipping containers.

Its a universal attachment point, allowing anythig to be bolted to the containers, but it happens to line up with what we camm tube clamp or "kee clamp" metal tube fixings; speciafically for handrails. Happy to send over an image if you ant to PM me, but the link to the site is here:

www.dominoclamps.com . and whould explain how they work.

you can find the handrail fixings for standard 48.8mm metal tube from a company called interclamp in the UK, but probably thres something similar stateside.