Did you know that shipping containers are one of the strongest and most versatile building materials on the planet? They are used for everything from house construction, mobile office space, restaurants, right through to mobile cafes. Well, they can also be used to build very sturdy and robust bridges, and for a fraction of the cost of a conventionally built bridge. This post demonstrates the versatility of the humble shipping container and highlights the reasons why more and more bridge construction is taking advantage of used shipping containers, instead of going with the far more expensive, traditional bridge building methods.

Shipping containers are some of the most versatile recyclables in the world. With just a few modifications (or none in some situations), a shipping container can be transformed into something useful. Among those things are bridges.



Traditional bridges cost a lot of money and time to construct with the majority of the cost going to specialists who construct the bridge and construction materials. This makes it almost impossible to construct bridges for less busy roads such as those on private farms, properties, and back roads.

People who want to build bridges on these kinds of roads often resort to using substandard construction methods such as logs and timber. It works for the most part, but these are not ideal or durable and could sometimes be dangerous. Plus the weight they can support is limited.

The perfect material for bridges

Luckily, there are shipping containers whose design makes them perfect for bridge construction. These are the flat-rack containers.

These are heavy-duty shipping containers that feature collapsible walls instead of the permanent ones on regular containers. The design is ideal for transporting oversized or heavy goods that couldn’t fit in an ordinary container.

Just like other types of containers, flat racks come in two common sizes, the 20ft (6.06m) and 40ft (12.19m) variants. The length you choose will depend on the length of the dip or waterway you want to construct the bridge over.

Benefits of shipping container bridges

Sea container bridges are advantageous because they are:

Easy to set up. These kind of bridges are easy to set up and take apart. All you require is a vehicle to transport the container to the location of use and a crane to put it into place. This makes them perfect for situations where a temporary bridge is needed urgently as they can be used as soon as they are installed. Cheap. These bridges are relatively inexpensive to construct as they require little expertise, manpower, and materials. This reduces costs significantly making them affordable for properties and farms. Robust. Flat racks are designed to handle overweight cargo which makes them very useful as bridges. A shipping container bridge can easily and safely carry a load of up to 45 tonnes. That’s a lot of weight! Durable. Just like other types of containers, flat racks are made from high-quality, durable steel capable of withstanding the rough conditions of the sea, the elements and rough handling during transportation. This makes them very durable and ideal for the construction of permanent bridges that will last for decades. Environmentally friendly. Recycling and reusing items is one of the best ways to reduce wastage of the earth’s resources. A cargo container bridge also uses fewer materials as compared to other types of bridges which significantly reduces their impact on the environment.

Tiger Containers sells high-quality flat-rack containers suitable for bridge construction and other uses. We also have the capacity to make any modifications you require to make the bridge more suitable for your situation such as painting and bridge railings installation.

Read about our shipping container conversions >