Mining Fabric Buildings

Mine Site Housing, Equipment Maintenance & Warehousing

Alaska Structures^® has more than 40 years of experience providing the world’s most enduring fabric buildings to mining operations worldwide. Alaska Structures engineers mining buildings, conveyor enclosures and mining camps to meet the latest IBC Building Codes and standards of design and construction.

Alaska Structures' tensioned fabric buildings for the mining industry are:

• Proven in extreme climates and inclement weather
• Highly portable and easy to install, with or without foundations
• Available in many field-tested designs and configurations
• Engineered and tested to meet specific wind and snow loads

The MTX Series of maintenance buildings provides spacious environments for on-site workshops and equipment repair facilities. TSX-Series portable cabins offer a raised flooring system for workforce housing on any terrain, with minimum environmental impact. The HGX Series of heavy gable buildings up to 30 feet wide make great modular offices or larger dormitory facilities, kitchen and dining facilities, as well as mine drys. The Denali Series provides mining operations with complete turnkey workforce housing and can be configured with interior hard-wall systems for manager and supervisor accommodations.

The GTX Series of open span buildings provide incredible interior space because they range from 16 feet to 150 feet wide and any length. These large, engineered fabric buildings are uniquely suited for use as warehouses, large dining facilities, aircraft hangars, and many other applications.

The applications of Alaska Structures tensioned membrane structures are near endless. Additional mining related uses for on-site mining infrastructure include:

Every Alaska Structures facility for mining operations is manufactured in the USA using the highest-quality materials. Our proprietary membranes are tensioned over high-strength galvanized steel or lightweight aluminum frames to create a ruggedly durable building solution capable of withstanding extreme weather conditions. Alaska Structures' fabric buildings are proven to offer incredible longevity in any climate with little to no maintenance.

The easy installation, incredible portability, and minimal foundation requirement to setup an Alaska Structures building system on any level surface with minimal site preparation makes them a far better choice than wood, steel or brick-and-mortar buildings. Alaska Structures fabric building designs offer several other benefits including:

• Lower Construction Costs
• Reduced Build Times
• Optional In-House Powder Coating
• Free-Span Architectural Supports
• Industry-Leading Longevity
• Low-Cube Shipping
• Logistics Support
• Project Management Services

Mining Building and Mining Camp Design Options

Choose from hundreds of field-tested design options when you choose one of our portable mining buildings. Alaska Structures offers translucent skylight material to allow in natural light, reducing the need for expensive lighting during the day. For mining buildings and mining camps in remote locations with extreme cold or hot temperatures, our proprietary insulation packages can be added to any Alaska Structures building system, and capable of meeting any R-value of thermal resistance for increased energy efficiency. Alaska Structures has designs to accommodate electrical and lighting systems, HVAC systems and environmental control units. We also offers a wide range of window, door, and flooring packages.

Fabric Building Systems vs Traditional Structures Used in Mining

Aside from fabric buildings, the two most common materials used for mining structures are concrete and steel. Each building type has its own strengths and weaknesses. In a comparison between concrete, steel and fabric mining buildings, there are diverse factors giving fabric building systems the edge.

Concrete Buildings for Structures

Tilt-up concrete buildings follow barn-raising styles in their construction. Builders make big slabs off-site that ship to the final location, set into place using cranes. Set-up takes place on site. Constructed at over 10,000 new buildings per year, this is a popular way to set up a mining structure. However, this approach comes with an built in degree of permanence that may turn away some operations managers. In addition, there is costly upkeep over the long term of these structures. Finally, there are concerns with solar heat gain and unclear energy efficiency codes.  Therefore, making concrete structures an unwise purchase in many cases.

Metal Buildings for Mining

Steel is a material in wide use in mining structures and is a strong substitute. These structures are less costly to protect in intense environments than concrete and easier to set up. Steel is especially good in cases of poor soil support. Steel buildings have greater flexibility compared to tilt-up concrete structures of like sizes. This is due to the groundwork needs of steel buildings. It's also greener and easier to recycle than concrete, allowing for materials' reuse in other applications after wrecking. This is a major boon for those looking to earn LEED certification.

Fabric Buildings for Mining

Camp system used at remote mining site.

Fabric buildings can't match the strength or durability of steel or concrete structures. However, those with many distribution sites or short-term operations gain from the portability of tension fabric buildings. Short deployment times, set-up times and repair costs are vital in far away areas where planning is costly and hard.

Tension fabric building systems give flexibility in design and function. They have optional doors, windows, insulation, and climate control systems, while offering custom electrical and lighting solutions.

Especially when compared to steel or concrete, groundwork needs for fabric buildings give greater flexibility in site area and placement. Most fabric buildings have different foundation options, allowing faster construction and lower labor costs.