Applications

Remote & Modular Buildings (Dongas)

Commonly known in the industry as "Dongas", modular or transportable buildings used in remote housing accommodation villages is now a large division within the building & construction industry due to Western Australia's mining boom.  From a single 20' (7.2m) or 40' (14.4m) unit through to modules (often called complexes) of grouped units, the traditional "Donga" is nowdays more comfortable, some more recent designs could even be termed as luxurious.

The majority of modular buildings sold in Australia are manufactured by Australian modular building companies. They have been using our system for many years and continue to do so.  With limited success, due to the recent resource boom in Australia, some buildings have been imported in from China and Thailand.  The design options are virtually unlimited.  However, in Australia these buildings need to be rated and certified by an engineer in accordance with the region they are to be situated.  The North West of Western Australia, The Northern Territory and North and Far North Queensland are cyclonic regions that require cyclone rated buildings and foundation solutions.

We are the most experienced remote housing foundation organisation in Australia. Our first project was in 1996 when the then P&O Catering, in association with NOMAD constructed the Wedgefield Accommodation Village in Port Hedland. This was the first major accommodation camp intended for mine site workers. Since then, Screwpile Australia and Instant Foundations WA Pty Ltd have provided expert advice and ground anchoring solutions for all kinds of remote accommodation and housing developments throughout Australia and South East Asia. Other than the economic advantages of using our ground anchoring system, speed and ease of foundation and building hook-up provide significant advantages.  Subject to site and environment conditions, using our patent-pending Qwik-Loc pile and driving system, up to 200 screwpiles can be installed in one day by a single installing machine, leaving the buildings ready for immediate connection the following day.  When using our patent-pending Qwik-Connect interface brackets, buildings can be secured to the tension screwpiles in as little as 20 minutes.  The future decommissioning of buildings is just as quick and easy.

Old methods of using large mass concrete footings or concrete bored piles is more expensive than our screwpile foundation solutions. Concrete and labour rates in remote areas makes conventional mass concrete and bored piles a more expensive option than that of our screwpile foundation solutions. The use of our patented Qwik-Connect interface brackets to connect the buildings to our foundation means the foundations and building connection can take as little as 2 hours.

For more information of the system click on the 2008 Remote Housing Cyclone Rated Screwpile Brochure on this page.