A staging yard can be an essential tool in preparing for a modular construction build. It serves as an intermediate logistical hub between manufacturing and final construction that allows for efficient sequencing, quality control and a transit buffer. But, your staging yard is only as efficient as your strategy and process for storing modules. Our recent video provides best practices for staging yards to ensure you have the most efficient plan and layout possible to support your modular construction project.
Modular construction staging yards are temporary storage and preparation areas for prefabricated building modules and materials before final delivery to the build site. Using a modular staging yard offers many advantages, including increasing efficiencies, optimizing sequencing, and decreasing onsite build time.
To get the most out of your modular staging yard, you need to make sure that both the yard itself and the layout of the modules are optimized for safety and efficiency. Here are three features, in particular, to look for in a properly staged yard.
Modular cribbing is the process of stacking wood, steel, or composite blocks in a grid-like structure to stabilize heavy loads during storing, lifting, or moving. In a staging yard, it raises the modules typically 35 to 40 inches high to prevent any damage or wear and tear that may occur if they were to be placed directly on the ground.
Because modules are typically massive, heavy, and oddly shaped, it is crucial that cribbing is properly supporting them from underneath to keep them secure. Properly placed modular cribbing should help evenly distribute the mod’s weight to reduce the risk of shifting or titling. Such stability is important to prevent structural damage to the modules and accidents from tipping or collapsing that could endanger workers and equipment.
Especially when the terrain is uneven or sloped, which can be the case in outdoor environments, you should be able to detect modules fully and evenly secured with cribbing in a properly staged yard.
Speaking of terrain, the environment in outdoor staging yards can be particularly demanding. You need enough space to store a large number of massive mods plus room for carriers to maneuver around. Ideally you can set your staging yard in a flat, empty lot or an open parking lot near the construction site. But, in some situations — like densely populated urban environments or remote locations — you may have to work with a parcel of land a little further away with rougher terrain.
If your modular staging yard is not paved, you should ensure that the ground is thoroughly leveled and compacted to prevent vehicles, equipment, and modules from sinking and unevenly settling. Adding a substrate can further offer stability and support to the surface. Additionally, you should clear all obstacles and check for any tree limbs that need to be trimmed back or fences/signs/other objects that can be temporarily moved to accommodate tractor-trailers transporting modular units.
An effective modular staging yard is a well-organized one. It’s essential to arrange them in a proper sequence so that transportation always has access to the right mod at the right time. This allows trucks to continually feed the crane at the construction site and prevents slow downs.
It’s important to neatly align the modules to maximize the space in the yard and allow trailers to move around easily without the threat of bumping and damaging a unit that’s sticking out. You can tell that a yard is being run properly with great care when the rows of mods are neatly lined up and prepared for transport to setting.
The right logistics partner will help you navigate optimizing your modular staging yard for your project to run smoothly. But, what if your partner could take even more off your plate?
Builders often don’t have the time or want to deal with the hassle of finding a temporary storage space — let alone, negotiating a lease, running security, organizing the yard, and more. That’s why Stream Modular has developed a solution so that you can outsource the entire process, from acquisition to seamless logistical coordination.
With Staging Yard Pro™, Stream Modular will identify a suitable site, secure an affordable lease, arrange security, and manage the logistics of storing and moving modules from the yard on your behalf. We take the complexity out of the process and save you hundreds of hours of work. Get in touch if you’d like to learn more about our complete outsource solution for modular staging yards so you can focus on your core business.
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Stream Modular is a transportation logistics company specializing exclusively in modular construction. We help modular manufacturers and builders transport mods, pods, and panels so they arrive on time and safely to the build site.
