Think of innovation and we tend to think internet, mobile phone etc.
But one of the most significant innovation s of the 20th century was the shipping container.
Beginning around the 1960's, the number of containers carried per ship has increased about 18 fold.
The world's cargo fleet had largely to be rebuilt to accommodate the standard 20 foot or equivalent container.
Ports that previously were among the largest went into decline eg Liverpool in England, because they were in the wrong place.
Ports had to be totally remodelled/relocated to provide the storage space for containers.
Ship turnaround times changed from about 3 weeks with manual handling to 2 days with container handling.
It was a huge change.

bogarde73 wrote on Jul 16^th, 2014 at 12:36pm:

Think of innovation and we tend to think internet, mobile phone etc. But one of the most significant innovation s of the 20th century was the shipping container. Beginning around the 1960's, the number of containers carried per ship has increased about 18 fold. The world's cargo fleet had largely to be rebuilt to accommodate the standard 20 foot or equivalent container. Ports that previously were among the largest went into decline eg Liverpool in England, because they were in the wrong place. Ports had to be totally remodelled/relocated to provide the storage space for containers. Ship turnaround times changed from about 3 weeks with manual handling to 2 days with container handling. It was a huge change.

And Australia has a great track record of importing container loads of junk and then exporting back the empty containers to get filled again. Yep the shipping container revolutionised the way australia could import everyone elses value added goods :D LOL

I believe they were originally designed by the US Dept of defense in the 1950's .. intermodal shipping containers

designed to be stacked onto ships, then be lifted off and put straight onto a truck or train without having to unload the cargo

That's right, but the idea was adopted by other countries who initially had a variety of sizes. Eventually an international standard was adopted.
Big problem though is that maybe 10,000 of them go overboard each year and they are all out there.

Make great homes too.
Note swimming pool at bottom of pic.....

:)

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Lobo wrote on Jul 16^th, 2014 at 8:17pm:

Make great homes too. Note swimming pool at bottom of pic..... :)

you'd cook in that pool on a hot day

We loose filled a container with apples and sent them to the UK.

It saved heaps on transport costs and the fruit had no problems with bruising (less than in the container with cartons)
Unfortunately the innovation came too late and that export industry died like so many others.

The bikes my Men's Shed donate overseas via Bikes for Humanity go by
container. Once there, the container becomes a bike shop and the natives
get trained in a viable business opportunity as well as getting a means of
transport. Roads and cars are few, so bikes are perfect.

If not for containers it couldn't happen as it simply wouldn't be practical
and all those bikes would most likely end up in landfill.

And did you know that giving a family in Namibia a bicycle can raise their
annual income and their standard of living by up to 35%?

I have several 20 foot CONEX on my property.  One I use as a bushfire shelter, dug into a hillside, with earth heaped over it and a mound shielding the entrance,  the other as a shed. 

Kat wrote on Jul 16^th, 2014 at 11:19pm:

And did you know that giving a family in Namibia a bicycle can raise their annual income and their standard of living by up to 35%?

good on you for helping out the nig nogs.

Brian Ross wrote on Jul 16^th, 2014 at 11:35pm:

I have several 20 foot CONEX on my property.  One I use as a bushfire shelter, dug into a hillside, with earth heaped over it and a mound shielding the entrance,  the other as a shed.

and tin foil hat. 

That should keep all the Jewish and Christian terrorists out, brain.  ;D ;D ;D

Brian Ross wrote on Jul 16^th, 2014 at 11:35pm:

I have several 20 foot CONEX on my property.  One I use as a bushfire shelter, dug into a hillside, with earth heaped over it and a mound shielding the entrance,  the other as a shed.

Excellent thinking. Have you got oxygen in there?

bogarde73 wrote on Jul 17^th, 2014 at 12:53pm:

Brian Ross wrote on Jul 16th, 2014 at 11:35pm: I have several 20 foot CONEX on my property.  One I use as a bushfire shelter, dug into a hillside, with earth heaped over it and a mound shielding the entrance,  the other as a shed.  Excellent thinking. Have you got oxygen in there?

No real need.  There is more than sufficient air to last the time most bush fires last.  There is no undergrowth and few trees on the property near the shelter.   Radiant heat is a much greater danger than oxygen deprivation in a bushfire ('cause if there is no oxygen, there ain't no fire). 

Mattywisk wrote on Jul 16^th, 2014 at 11:45pm:

Brian Ross wrote on Jul 16th, 2014 at 11:35pm: I have several 20 foot CONEX on my property.  One I use as a bushfire shelter, dug into a hillside, with earth heaped over it and a mound shielding the entrance,  the other as a shed.  and tin foil hat.  That should keep all the Jewish and Christian terrorists out, brain.  ;D ;D ;D

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2/Redwood39/Yawn.gif

You really must stop following me around, Matty.  People will start thinking you want me!   ;D

Excellent thinking. Have you got oxygen in there?

He should have, has been stealing it for years.

Met a guy once who buried a container and wired it up with hydroponics and lights and stuff, built a shed on top of it and was growing that Mario Juwayna stuff..

Cops got him somehow.... hadda be a grass in there somewhere....

Amazing what you can do with containers.....