As energy exploration and extraction efforts take center stage in some of America’s most remote and undeveloped areas, rural economies are being forced to grow up fast. Civic and business leaders may find help from modular construction.
It makes sense. From the oil sands in Western Canada to the Marcellus Shale of western Pennsylvania and Ohio, out-of-state workers are flooding small towns and creating immediate needs for facilities. For energy companies and the communities that support them, modular construction is the building solution that can ease these growing pains now and down the road.
Immediate Buildings for Immediate Needs
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Current resources are stretched to capacity. Adding buildings quickly is essential to keeping projects on track and towns from being overwhelmed.
Temporary modular buildings can be delivered almost anywhere and configured for virtually any use. This includes project management offices and crew quarters at extraction sites, construction offices, retail business expansions, school additions, municipal facilities and medical buildings. No matter what the need, temporary modular buildings can be delivered and ready for use within weeks, and sometimes just days.
Iron Ore Company of Canada is one example of temporary modular meeting the need for immediate space. The company needed on-site housing for 500 workers at its remote mine in Newfoundland. Local resources were sparse and the project was falling behind. ModSpace built five modular dormitories totaling more than 110,000 square feet. The first three buildings were ready for occupancy in 60 days, and the remaining two just a couple months later. The new buildings let workers stay onsite and productive, so the project remained on track.
For specialized heavy industrial applications, the non-combustible ModSpace HQ is especially well suited for adding space quickly, without the need for expensive sprinkler systems. This means they can be installed, code compliant and ready in a fraction of the time of conventional construction site offices.
Permanent Buildings for Sustained Growth
While temporary buildings fill the immediate need, permanent modular construction gives energy companies, their suppliers and growing communities the ability to add new permanent structures in half the time of traditional construction. Permanent modular buildings are commonly used for administrative offices, retail stores, complete schools and school additions, hospitals and medical offices, heavy industrial facilities and more.
Suncor Energy had such a need. Its new oil sands extraction facility in western Canada was missing a control room, locker rooms, cafeteria and offices. ModSpace built a three-story modular control tower and elevator to accommodate all of Suncor’s needs in eight months.
While most are facing tough times in a down economy, some rural communities are on the rise. And modular is a better solution for meeting new and ongoing demands for space.