FOOTINGS

SmartShelters offers several options to secure your container mounted shelter to the ground. Our shelters comply with the current Building Code AS/NZS 1170.2:2021, and as part of this, our shelters must be secured to counter the wind, snow, and other loads that the weather throws at them. There are four standard options we can offer:

• BALLAST: Ballast is the most straight-forward way to secure container mounted shelters. Once the containers are in place, you can add ballast or counterweight to them, and then you are good to go. Popular forms of ballast are concrete waste blocks, water IBCs, bulk products such as aggregate, steel plates, and more. Our engineers will provide the exact amount of ballast you require in the containers to adequately secure the shelter. If you have purchased site-specific engineering, this will be calculated specific to your site and shelter configuration, for ultimate peace of mind.
• CONTAINER ANCHOR FOOTINGS: If you would like to keep your containers free for other uses, you can connect them to container anchor footings instead. These are concrete piers around the perimeter of the containers, with threaded rods embedded and brackets at ground level, which are bolted to the rods and welded to the container.
• CONCRETE SLAB CONNECTIONS: If you are already pouring a concrete slab, you can simply continue this underneath the containers, and we can provide the necessary componentry to bolt the containers down to the slab. The slab thickness required and a number of connections can be provided by our engineer.
• GROUND SCREWS: Another increasingly popular option for securing your containers is using ground screws. These are large, engineered steel rods which are screwed into the ground, with the containers attached at the top. This approach avoids the use of concrete, making it easier to relocate the entire structure at a later date. The exact number and size of ground screws can be determined by our engineers