BAMBOO AS A BUILDING MATERIAL

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
India has presently reasonable bamboo resources with a potential to increase the same through
improved propagation techniques. Its renewability, workability and low cost have made bamboo an
established traditional construction material, particularly in rural areas. These advantages together
with high strength of bamboo outweigh its limitations like low durability. However, sophisticated
applications of bamboo such as large spanned building sand reinforcement in concrete to exploit its
high tensile strength have not been made practically possible despite attempts made in developing
such uses. It is possible to improve the durability of bamboo in construction by adopting suitable
treatment and improved detailing, especially of joints.
Research and Development work are needed for better exploitation of this renewable resource with
short rotation which in improved and reconstituted form can substitute wood in construction and
packaging. Recent studies have shown that a more rational utilization of bamboo is possible through
conversion of bamboo into products like bamboo mat boards rational utilization of present bamboo
resources depends on the development of improved and new products from bamboo which can
overcome the limitations of solid bamboo and enhance both its technical and economic value.
Splitting bamboo into slivers and weaving them into mats of different pattern, shape and quality is a
cottage industry in many parts of India. Bamboo mat weaving is a popular cottage industry
contributing to the livelihood of thousands of people in areas where large quantities of short rotation
species like Ochiandra travancorica and Och Iandra rheedi are available.

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF BAMBOO CONSTRUCTION

The ancient Chinese created "fire arrows," which were made of bamboo filled with gunpowder, to
get more distance to their arrows. These arrows eventually evolved to become the rockets and
firecrackers we are familiar with today. More recently, Thomas Edison used carbonized bamboo for
the first successful light filaments. It has been used to make paper, cloth, and even Rayon. Bamboo's
tensile strength has been essential in the development of bridges. The Chinese invented suspension
bridges using bamboo to cross rivers. Using only the exterior part of the bamboo, which is four times
as strong as the interior, they created tension cables up to 120 meters long. Bamboo bridges were
also constructed in India, and by the Incas in South America. In both cases, the structural cable was
strung above the walking surface, which hung from it. And in Colombia, tension bridges were
created using this amazingly strong material, with tensile strengths of up to 3,200 kg/cm2 for the
species Guadua. Similar building techniques have also been used to create gabions to dam rivers and
streams, where a long basket of bamboo is filled with stones with each end secured to the banks. It
has been crucial to the development of many inventions. Bamboo has been used to build boats and
zeppelins. In aeronautical research, structural members of kites and early planes were constructed
using the material as it is light and extremely strong. A plane made completely of bamboo was built
in the Philippines, while the Chinese commonly used it in their planes during World War II. Plans for
bamboo planes were even available in "Popular Mechanics" magazine. Bamboo also has a long
history of use in buildings, being common to the vernacular architecture of China, Southeast Asia
and Central and South America. The Chinese could span up to ten meters with their corbelling
technology, and bamboo has been used extensively all over Indonesia, especially in the Celebes
Islands. In Hong Kong, all scaffolding for highways construction is built of bamboo, and tied with
bamboo strips only 1 mm thick. Although they have a great history of building with bamboo, today
the Japanese use it only for their traditional tea houses.

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SIGNIFICANCE OF BAMBOO AS A RESOURCE

 Giant grass  Harvest after about 5 years

 Distributed in tropical areas  1250 known species of Bamboo, with
1500 possible uses.
 Growths like telescope  2.5 billion people worldwide use
bamboo, of which 1 billion people use
it for housing
 Diameter decreases with increasing  Trade in Bamboo generates US $ 4.5
height billion.
 Growth exclusively in length  Provides Livelihood, Ecological and
Food Security.
 No changes in thickness  Eco-friendly Products
 Height: 20-25m, Diameter: about 12  Lignifications : after about 3 years
cm

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WHY BAMBOO IS USED AS A BUILDING MATERIAL?

Housing is a basic need for human being, and is now becoming a burden for low and medium income
group. Thus, we need cost effective housing and bamboo is the best building material, result for that
as:

 It is fastest-growing renewable natural building material.

 The material is easily available & Eco friendly.
 Bamboo is a viable (if not better!) alternative for steel, concrete and masonry as an
independent building material.
 It is cost effective and easy to work.
 It can be easily bend, give desired shape and can provide joints to suit the construction.
 Its enormous elasticity makes it a very useful building material in areas with very high risks
of earthquakes.
 Local available material to some areas, which tries to carry the local tradition & vernacular
Architecture of that place.

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OBJECTIVES

1. To study important characteristics of bamboo as it significantly contributes to the structural

soundness and durability of the house.
2. To explore and study the modern construction technique of bamboo used for the construction
of building elements.
3. To incorporate local tradition and design into bamboo housing system.
4. To improve sustainable production and marketing of modern bamboo housing through value
chain analysis and technology research.

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GENERAL USES

 Soil stabilization, wind break, urban waste water treatment and reduction of
nitrates contamination
 Creating a fire line in traditional forests-due to the high content of silica.

 Removing atmospheric carbon- bamboo can capture 17 metric tons of carbon per hectare
per year, i.e., effectively than any other species.
 The shoots are edible.

 Building and construction.

 Small scale and cottage industries, for handicrafts and other products.

 New generation products as wood substitutes

 Industrial products

 Transportation industry- truck bodies, railway carriages etc.

 Boards and furniture

 Medicine

 Paper and pulp industry

 Long time source of biomass for industry

 Fuel source- capable of generating 1000-6000 cal/g- for households and small industries is
an age-old, continuing practice.

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PROPERTIES

TENSILE STRENGTH

Bamboo is able to resist more tension than compression. The fiber of bamboo run axial. In the
outer zone are highly elastic vascular bundle, that have a high tensile strength. The tensile strength of
these fibers is higher than that of steel, but it’s not possible to construct connections that can transfer
this tensile strength. Slimmer tubes are superior in this aspect too. Inside the silicate outer skin, axial
parallel elastically fibers with a tensile strength up to 400 N/mm2 can be found. As a comparison,
extremely strong wood fibers can resist a tension up to 50 N /mm2.

COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH

Compared to the bigger tubes, slimmer ones have got, in relation to their cross-section, a
higher compressive strength value. The slimmer tubes possess better material properties due to the
fact that bigger tubes have got a minor part of the outer skin, which is very resistant in tension. The
portion of lignin inside the culms affects compressive strength, whereas the high portion of cellulose
influences the buckling and the tensile strength as it represents the building substance of the bamboo
fabrics.

ELASTIC MODULUS

The accumulation of highly strong fibers in the outer parts of the tube wall also work positive
in connection with the elastic modulus like it does for the tension, shear and bending strength. The
higher the elastic modulus, the higher is the quality of the bamboo. Enormous elasticity makes it a
very useful building material in areas with very high risks of earthquakes.

ANISOTROPIC PROPERTIES

Bamboo is an anisotropic material. Properties in the longitudinal direction are completely

different from those in the transversal direction. There are cellulose fibers in the longitudinal
direction, which is strong and stiff and in the transverse direction there is lignin, which is soft and
brittle.

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SHRINKAGE

Bamboo shrinks more than wood when it loses water. The canes can tear apart at the nodes.
Bamboo shrinks in a cross section of 10-16 % and a wall thickness of 15-17 %. Therefore it is
necessary to take necessary measures to prevent water loss when used as a building material.

FIRE RESISTANCE

The fire resistance is very good because of the high content of silicate acid. Filled up with
water, it can stand a temperature of 400° C while the water cooks inside.

Figure 0: Fire resistance of bamboo cane when filled with water

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CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE SURVEY

1. Jigar K. Sevalia, Nirav B. Siddhpura, Chetan S. Agrawal, Deep B. Shah, Jai V. Kapadia. “Study
on Bamboo as Reinforcement in Cement Concrete”, (March -April 2013)
In this study presents the assessment of the viability of the employ of Bamboo as reinforcement
in concrete members. In this research the Bamboo was used as a reinforcing material without any
treatment and stirrups. Based on the experimental study, the following conclusions are made,
Tension test performed on Bamboo strip revealed elastic behavior. Both Singly and Doubly
Reinforced Beam has shown elastic behavior while performing flexural tests on them. Doubly
Reinforced Beam has performed more elastically than Singly Reinforced Beam while performing
flexural tests. Load carrying capacity in Doubly Reinforced Beam increased by 29.31 % as
compared to Singly Reinforced Beam. Vertical cracks are developed, on failure of the beam,
within middle third region of the beam. This type of failure is a proof existence of pure moment
without any shear. Modulus of Elasticity of the Doubly Reinforced Beam is more than twice of
Modulus of Elasticity of the Singly Reinforced

2. Avula Ganesh Reddy and A. Joshua Daniel. “Study on the Behaviour of the Bamboo
Reinforcement with Coconut Shell as the Aggregate Concrete in Compression Member with
Different Lengths”. (April-2015)
In this study, Short columns of a different range of lengths were studied. The columns with
replaced coconut shell as aggregate with bamboo as the reinforcement and columns with replaced
coarse aggregate with steel as the reinforcement were compared with the conventional type of
concrete with steel as the reinforcement specimens. As the length of column increases, the
ultimate load carrying capacity of the columns decreased. The stiffness of the structural member
i.e. columns also decreased with the replacement of aggregate and reinforcement. The ultimate
load carrying capacity for the column of 1m length with coconut shell as the aggregate and steel
as reinforcement was about 86% of the column with conventional aggregate and steel as the
reinforcement and coconut shell with bamboo as the reinforcement was about 63%. The ultimate
load carrying capacity for the column of length 1.3meter with coconut shell as aggregate and

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steel as reinforcement was about 77.5% of the column with conventional aggregate and steel
reinforcement and coconut shell with bamboo reinforcement was about 67.5%.

3. P. Sharma, S. Mehta and K. Dhanwantri. “Bamboo as a Building Material”, (2014).

In view of the fact that time immemorial, bamboo has played a significant role in the growth of
mankind. It is used for a wide variety of day-to-day purposes, both as a woody material and as
food. It has been the spine of much of the world’s rural life and will stay up so as the population
increases. The properties as peak grade building material and increased availability of bamboo in
our country makes it potential to use, bamboo in the field of construction broadly. Its high valued
consumption not only promotes the economic development, but also saves jungle resources to
protect our ecological environment as a wood substitute. As a cost-effective building material,
rate of bamboo productivity and crop cycle of annual harvesting is very less compare to any other
naturally growing resource, suppose if you today planted three or four structural bamboo plants,
then in 4-5 years later you will have mature clumps, and in 8-9 years you will have enough
mature material to build a comfortable, eco friendly & low cost material house.

4. Tomas U. Ganiron Jr. “Investigation on the Physical Properties and Use of Lumampao Bamboo
Species as Wood Construction Material”, (2014).
In this study focused on focuses on investigating the physical properties and use of lumampao
bamboo as a substitute to wood constructional material. The physical properties of lumampao
bamboo are still considerably stronger than those of Philippines cedar. The dimensional stability
of lumampao bamboo is also comparable to the Philippines cedars. Therefore, if the requirement
taken into consideration is only the mentioned physical properties; it can be basically said that
lumampao bamboo has the likely to substitute Philippines cedar. In conditions of constrains in
the development of lumampao bamboo potential; the location of bamboo plantation, the
availability of labor force to restore the bamboo plantation and engage in the production
activities, way to motivate people to engage in bamboo related industry and the cost-benefit
analysis of lumampao bamboo development are some factors should be clarified to address the
constraints.

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5. Sani Haruna, M. Lakshmipathy. “Ductility Behavior of the Bamboo Reinforced Coconut Shell
Concrete Beams”, (May 2015).
In this study research work and experimental result obtained the following conclusions they have
made, Tension test performed on bamboo strip revealed elastic behavior and its ultimate strength
was 112.05N/mm2. The modulus of elasticity of coconut shell concrete was found to be
12075.2N/mm2 which represents 54%, 57%, 43.88% and 60.36% that of modulus of elasticity of
conventional concrete for IS 456, ACI-318, EU and BS 8110 codes respectively. The load
carrying capacity of the NWC beams were slightly higher than CSCS, BCSC, and BCSCB
beams. The stiffness behavior of CSC beam showed similar trend as that of NWC up to failure.
Energy absorption was more for BCSC than NWC, BCSC and BCSCB beams. This is attributed
due to the high deflections due to applied loads. Deflections are higher in BCSC and BCSCB
beams when compared to NWC and CSCS beams and by wrapping the split bamboo with
binding wire the deflections were slightly reduced in BCSCB beams compared to BCSC beams.

6. Tjerk Reijenga M.Sc. “Review on the role of bamboo in green building construction and design”.
It suggested the viability of bamboo to replace certain general traditional construction materials,
such as wood, brick, steel, and concrete. Although, he also mentioned the need of confirmation
projects to convince people to use this incredible building material i.e. bamboo grass on the earth
for design purpose. He also provided sufficient examples of green buildings using bamboo for the
design purpose. Most of the developing countries have several problems; housing problem is one
of them. The housing problem has been related to lack of research in field of green concrete,
smart material and low cost housing projects.

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CHAPTER 3
MATERIALS & MATHODOLOGY
BAMBOO REINFORCED CONCRETE

The use of bamboo as reinforcement in Portland cement concrete has been studied extensively.
Bamboo has been used as a construction material in certain areas for centuries, but its application as
reinforcement in concrete had received little attention until the Clemson study. A study of the
feasibility of using bamboo as the reinforcing material in precast concrete elements was conducted at
the U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station in 1964.Ultimate strength design
procedures, modified to take into account the characteristics of the bamboo reinforcement were used
to estimate the ultimate load carrying capacity of the precast concrete elements with bamboo
reinforcing. Bamboo was given recent consideration for use as reinforcement in soil-cement
pavement slabs in which the slabs behave in elastically even under light loads. For this case ultimate
load analysis was shown to be more economical and suitable for use. The results of these
investigations form the basis of the conclusions and recommendations presented in this report.
Further studies will be required before complete confidence can be placed theoretical designs based
on the material presented here.

Selection and preparation of bamboo

Selection

The following factors should be considered in the selection of bamboo culms (whole plants) for use
as reinforcement in concrete structures:

1. Use only bamboo showing a pronounced brown color. This will insure that the plant is at
least three years old.
2. Select the longest large diameter culms available.
3. Do not use whole culms of green, unseasoned bamboo.
4. Avoid bamboo cut in spring or early summer. These culms are generally weaker due to
increased fiber moisture content.

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Preparation

Sizing: Splints (split culms) are generally more desirable than whole culms as reinforcement. Larger
culms should be split into splints approximately 3/4 inch wide. Whole culms less than 3/4 inch in
diameter can be used without splitting.

Splitting: Splitting the bamboo can he done by separating the base with a sharp knife and then
pulling a dulled blade through the culm. The dull blade will force the stem to split open; this is more
desirable than cutting the bamboo since splitting will result in continuous fibers and a nearly straight
section. Table II shows the approximate net area provided by whole culms and by 3/4-inch-wide
splints, as well as the cross-sectional properties of standard deformed steel bars and wire mesh.

Seasoning: When possible, the bamboo should be cut and allowed to dry and season for three to four
weeks before using. The culms must be supported at regular spacing’s to reduce warping.

Bending: Bamboo can be permanently bent if heat, either dry or wet, is applied while applying
pressure. This procedure can be used for forming splints into C-shaped stirrups and for putting hooks
on reinforcement for additional anchorage.

Water proof coatings: When seasoned bamboo, either split or whole, is used as reinforcement, it
should receive a waterproof coating to reduce swelling when in contact with concrete. Without some
type of coating, bamboo will swell before the concrete has developed sufficient strength to prevent
cracking and the member may be damaged, especially if more than 4 percent bamboo is used. The
type of coating will depend on the materials available. A brush coat or dip coat of asphalt emulsion is
preferable. Native latex, coal tar, paint, dilute varnish, and water-glass (sodium silicate) are other
suitable coatings. In any case, only a thin coating should be applied; a thick coating will lubricate the
surface and weaken the bond with the concrete.

Construction principles

In general, techniques used in conventional reinforced concrete construction need not he changed
when bamboo is to be used for reinforcement.

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Concrete Mix Proportions

The same mix designs can be used as would normally be used with steel reinforced concrete.
Concrete slump should be as low as workability will allow. Excess water causes swelling of the
bamboo. High early-strength cement is preferred to minimize cracks caused by swelling of bamboo
when seasoned bamboo cannot be waterproofed.

Placement of bamboo

Bamboo reinforcement should not be placed less than 1-1/2 inches from the face of the concrete
surface. When using whole culms, the top and bottom of the stems should be alternated in every row
and the nodes or collars, should be staggered. This will insure a fairly uniform cross section of the
bamboo throughout the length of the member, and the wedging effect obtained at the nodes will
materially increase the bond between concrete and bamboo.

Steel Reinforced Joints

To satisfy seismic and hurricane requirements of building codes, steel reinforced brace panels are
used in specific locations of the building panels. The 1/4 inch thick steel plates are inserted, bolted
and dressed with bamboo bolt covers. Brace panels are then bolted securely to wood or concrete
foundations.

Houses are designed with 9 foot porch or 4 foot roof eaves to add weather protection and coolness.
Hurricane braces embedded with steel plates are bolted together with the root (rhizome) section of
the bamboo stalk. Bamboo houses stand up to 3 hurricanes.

Mortise and Tenon Joinery

Anywhere steel plates are not embedded, a mortise & tenon joint with two bamboo pins is the joinery
method used. The sequence below shows how two bamboo poles precisely fit together for a tight
connection. Two bamboo pins then fix the crosspiece.

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PRESERVATION OF BAMBOO

Bamboo is subject to attack by microorganisms and insects in almost any construction applications.
The decay and biodegradation of bamboo culms during outdoor storage can be checked to a great
extend by adopting a good storage yard practices. Culms should be stacked horizontally over raised
wall to facilitate water drainage and air circulation. For reed bamboos, vertical stacking results in a
small gain in pulp yield over horizontal stacking because the former suffers less fungal damage. The
service life of bamboo is therefore, mainly determined by the rate of attack. A variety of methods to
improve the durability of bamboo have however, been developed. Basically, there are two methods
for increasing the durability of bamboo.

NON CHEMICAL METHODS OR TRADITIONAL METHOD

Non-chemical methods are otherwise known as traditional methods of preservation are widely used
by villagers and are usually done on bamboos used for structural purposes. However, the treatment
cost is almost nothing and thus can be carried out at village level without special equipment. This
method includes curing, smoking, whitewashing and soaking.

a) Smoking

Traditionally, bamboo culms are placed above fireplaces inside the house so that the smoke and heat
rises up and both dries and blackens the culms. It is possible that the process produces some toxic
agents that provide a degree o protection. Alternatively, the heat generated by the fire could possibly
destroy or reduce the starch content of the parenchyma cells by pyrolysis. This is considered an
effective treatment against insects and fungi.

b) White washing

Bamboo culms and bamboo mats for housing construction are often painted with slaked lime. This is
carried out mainly to enhance the appearance, but there is also an expectation that the process will
prolong the life of the bamboo structure by preventing moisture entering the culms. It is possible that
the water or moisture absorption is delayed or in some cases prevented which will provide a higher
resistance to fungal attack. In Indonesia, bamboo mats are tarred and later sprinkled with a layer of
sand. When this is dry, upto 4 coats of whitewash are applied. Plastering is also a common practice
using cow dung mixed with either lime or mortar.

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c) Curing

Bamboo culms are treated during or immediately after extraction and before stacking in the storage
yard. Curing involves harvested culms, with branches and leaves intact, in open air. The leaves
continue to transpire causing the starch content of the culms to fail.

d) Soaking

The culms are submerged in either stagnant or running water, or mud for several weeks. This is one
of the best methods to preserve bamboo against the attack of microorganisms and insects.

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CHEMICAL METHODS

Methods that use preservative chemicals are generally more effective than non-chemical methods in
the protection of bamboo under storage, but they are not always economical or feasible. The
penetration of liquids into the culms takes place through the vessels in the actual direction from end
to end. The vessels account for only 5-10% the bamboo cross-section. Thus even when the vessels
are filled to saturated point, the bamboo can still be vulnerable to fungal insect attack if the
preservative does not diffuse sufficiently into the main tissue of the culms. The chemical treatment
techniques are as follows:

Types of Preservatives:

 Coal Tar Creosote -This is a fraction of coal tar distillate with a boiling point range above
200°C and is widely used admixed with fuel oil in the ratio of 50:50. The fuel oil ensures
stability to creosote against evaporation and bleeding from the treated bamboos. Creosote
has high performance; it is non-corrosive and provides good protection from termites.
 Copper Chrome Arsenic Composition - A typical composition of this preservative comprises
of coppersulphate, arsenic pentoxide and sodium or potassium dichromate in proportion of
3: 1:4.
 Copper Chrome Boric Composition: A typical composition of the preservative comprises
boric acid, copper sulphate and sodium or potassium dischromate in the proportion of 1: 5: 3: 4.
 Copper Chrome Zinc Arsenic Composition - A typical composition of this preservative
comprises 28 parts of arsenic acid 25 parts of sodium arsenate, 17 parts of sodium
dichromate and 30 parts of zinc sulphate.
 Chromated Zinc Chloride - This consist of zinc-chloride and sodium or potassium
dichromate in the ratio of 81.5: 18.5.
 Boric Acid Borax - This has been used successfully against lyctus borers. A mixture of 2:5
percent of each is found more suitable.

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Methods of Treatment:
a) Butt treatment

The butt ends of the freshly cut culms with the branches and leaves intact are placed in a drum
containing the preservative. The continued transpiration of the leaves draws the chemical solution
into the vessels of the culms. This process is very slow and often the vessels do not take up enough
of the liquid to preserve by diffusion, the surrounding fibers and parenchyma cells.

The preservative in the barrel must be replenished regularly in order to maintain the desired level.
When the treatment has been completed, care should be taken in the disposal of the contaminated
foliage. Butt treatment is usually adopted to bamboo posts.

b) Open tank method for cold soaking

This method is economical simple and provides good effective protection for bamboo. Culms, which
have been prepared to size, are submerged in a solution of water-soluble preservative for period of
several days. The solution enters the culms through the ends and sides by means of diffusion.

c) Boucherie method

This method requires the culms to be in green condition. Best results are obtained when the bamboo
is used during or shortly after the rainy season. The water transporting part of the culm can be
penetrated completely and the treatment itself is applied by an inexpensive installation. Preservative
is fed by gravity from a container placed at a higher level than the culms through pipes into the base
ends. The treatment is terminated when the solution at the dripping end shows a sufficiently high
concentration of chemicals. Allowing the bamboo to dry slowly in the shade for a period of at least
two weeks after treatment ensures that the solution diffuses into all of the tissues surrounding the
vessels.

d) Pressure treatment

Pressure treatment, using either creosote or water borne preservatives offers the best method of
preservation for bamboo culms. The applied pressure ranges from around 0.5-1.5N/mm2 and as such
requires special plants and equipment. Costs are high, but a service life upto 15 years can be
expected from adequately treated bamboo when used in the open and in contact with the ground.

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e) Hot and cold bath process

The bamboo is submerged in a tank of preservative, which is then heated, either directly over a fire
or indirectly by means of steel coils in the tank. The bath temperature is raised to 90o C and
maintained as such for 30 minutes and then allowed to cool. The bamboo should be allowed to dry
slowly to provide further diffusion of the preservative to take place.

f) Glue line treatment

This is specific to bamboo mat board and involves adding preservatives to the glue during
manufacture. Additives that have been shown to provide effective preservation treatment without
impairing the bond strength of the mat include 1% chlordane or 1% sodium octaborate tetra hydrate
with a 1:2 diluted pH solution containing 17% solid content.

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CHAPTER 4
APPLICATIONS
SCOPE

Bamboo material offers a surprisingly large number of applications and uses. Bamboo as a building
material in the bamboo architecture is using for several constructions. In the following some of these
construction will be represent.

BAMBOO FOUNDATION

The use of bamboo for foundation is rather restricted. This is mainly due to the fact that like timber
when in contact with damp ground, they deteriorate and decay very quickly unless treated with
some very effective preservatives. However, in spite of their short life considerable use of bamboos
is made as foundation or supporting posts in case of houses built on raised platforms. The types of
bamboo foundations identified are:
1. Bamboo in direct ground contact: Bamboo is placed either on the surface or buried. For
strength and stability, large diameter and thick walled sections of bamboo with closely
spaced nodes should be used. Where these are not available, smaller sections can be tied
together. It can decay within six months to two years, and hence preservative treatment is
recommended.
2. Bamboo on rock or preformed concrete footings: where bamboo is being used for bearings, it
should be placed out of ground contact on footings of either rock or preformed concrete. The
largest and stiffest sections of bamboo should be used.
3. Bamboo incorporated in to concrete footings: the poles are directly fit into concrete footing.
It can take the forms of single posts or strip footings.

4. Composite bamboo/concrete columns: a concrete extension is given to a bamboo post using

a plastic tube of the same diameter. The result is a bamboo post with an integral durable
foundation.
5. Bamboo piles: it is used to stabilize soft soils and reduce building settlement. The treated
split bamboo piles were filled with coconut coir strands wrapped with jute. The sections
were then tied with wire. After installation of the piles the area was covered with a sandy
material.
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BAMBOO WALLING

Bamboo reinforced mud walls (25 cm thick) can be made by using split bamboo duly dipped in hot
bitumen. Vertical pieces (half split) are inserted by about 25 cm into the ground at about 30 cm apart.
Similar pieces are horizontally run with same spacing’s and are wired to keep them in position. Then
properly molded mud mixed with rice husk, cinder and little amount of lime and water is dashed on
layer by layer and extended upward by keeping the above vertical bamboo grid in the centre. When
dried, extra earth is trimmed off from the surfaces of wall, 2 cm mud lime cinder mortar is applied
and finally a finishing with lime putty is given to have a pleasing look. In eastern India there is an
extensive use of light bamboo walls even in timber houses. They can be easily made and fixed in
position with necessarily fixture at comparatively lower cost. Board walls are made by flattened
bamboo culms with nodal diaphragm removed or by half split bamboo arranged vertically or at 45°
angle and duly battened and nailed to cover the whole wall. Coarse mats made of split bamboo skins
(thickness divided into inner and outer skins) woven in a variety of designs are also used to cover
wall gaps. These are generally strengthened by 6 x 2 cm wooden battens put on both sides in a pair
duly nailed preferably at top, bottom and middle.

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BAMBOO FLOORING

The floors may be at ground level, and therefore consists only of compacted earth, with or without
a covering of bamboo matting. The preferred solution is to raise the floor above the ground creating
a stilt type of construction. This improves comfort and hygiene and can provide a covered storage
area below the floor. The surface of earth floor is sometimes made more stable by paving it with
crude bamboo boards made by opening and flattening whole culms.

The various types used are:

1. Small bamboo culms: they are directly tied and nailed together.
2. Split bamboo: culms are split along their length into strips, several centimeters wide.
3. Flattened bamboo: formed by splitting green bamboo culms removing the diaphragms,
then rolling and flattening them. The resulting board is laid across the joists and fixed by
nailing or tying. They are screeded with cement mortar for reasons of hygiene and comfort
as they are uneven and difficult to clean.

4. Bamboo mats: thin strips varying in size from 5-6mm or 10-15mm and thickness of 0.6-

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1.2mm. These slivers are then woven into mats of different sizes according to the available
hot-press plates and user’s demands. After drying the mats to 6-10% moisture content,
sufficient glue is applied to ensure enough bonding between the overlapped areas. In
construction using bamboo mats, phenolic resins are employed.
5. Bamboo plastic composites: it is an innovative technology in which bamboo fiber is the raw
material and compounded with plastic as the core material of the flooring. This has higher
water resistance and dimensional stability properties than those of normal floorings.
The ratio of plastic should be over 30% for higher water resistance and dimensional stability.
Polypropylene is recommended, and if recycled plastic is used it is ideal to reduce the cost of
production. The density of substrate should be higher than 1gm/cm3 to ensure best mechanical
properties. It prevents the floor from swelling and cracking, which is the disadvantage of other
timber based flooring materials.

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DOOR SHUTTERS OF BAMBOO MAT BOARDS

One of the expensive items in a building is door shutters. It often accounts for 10 to 15 per cent of the
total cost of a building. In view of the high cost of traditional door shutter made of wood and wood
based panels the bamboo mat boards can profitably be used for making aesthetically appealing and
functionally adequate door shutters at a competitive cost. Bamboo mat boards of 2, 3, 5 and 7 ply are
ideally suited for making hollow core flush doors and paneled doors. Bamboo mat boards of 3 ply
and above can be used as infill panels in conventional paneled doors. Depending on the design,
thickness of the board can be optimized to achieve greater economy. Figure 6 shows various types of
bamboo mat board paneled doors using different thickness boards. A 7 ply, 5 mm thick board is
adequate in a single panel shutter whereas 3 ply, 2.5 mm thick can safely be used in a double door
shutter having a maximum panel width of 30 cm. Even thin door panels are impact resistant, durable
and strong. In recent times, bamboo boards have become a favored material for paneled doors. It is
easy to make low cost paneled door shutters by laminating panels of bamboo mat board and stiles
and rails of thin sections of wood with either gluing or nail gluing. A few experimental doors of this
type used under exterior conditions are still in good condition after 12 years. Thin bamboo mat
boards of 2 ply and 3 ply make excellent skin for hollow core functional flush doors due to high
modulus of rigidity and good impact resistance of the board. Bamboo mat board hollow core flush
doors as shown in Figure 7 require only core battens of secondary species or plantation species of
wood like eucalypt or rubber wood, butt joined and fixed with corrugated iron fastener and face skin
bonded with room temperature setting adhesive or fixed with cup screws, thus making the fabrication
very simple and ideally suited for rural housing. Hollow core bamboo mat board doors are 40-50 per
cent cheaper than any type of conventional door shutters and can be made on a "do it yourself' basis.

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BAMBOO ROOFING

The simplest roof covering is formed by bamboo shingles which are as long as the rafters. To
produce the shingles the bamboo canes are halved along their length and the diaphragms are
removed. They are threaded to the ridge and placed in Roman tile fashion. These shingles are nit
fixed at the eaves. They are held in position by their own weight.
The next roof covering is being composed of double layers of shingles. Each row of shingles is
threaded onto a strip and tied to a pole with simultaneously functions as purlin and roof batten.
Therefore the purlins are arranged in pairs.
The multi-layer shingle roofing is the most expensive and heaviest type of roofing. Instead of a roof
covering one can call this a roof wall having a thickness of up to one meter. The rows of shingles are
fixed to the roof battens by an inserted key which prevents them from sliding off. Layer is placed
upon layer up to the ridge. The roof structure is made of solid timber.
The lancet shingle roofing is very expensive. These are cut from bamboo laths in the length of the
segments. On the back of the lancet shingle a tongue is split away from the bark layer and this tongue
is inserted between pairs of roof battens. The shingles are placed with their concave side upwards.
Because of the better drainage the shingle should contain no nodes outside the batten area.

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In comparison with covering consisting of stranded palm leaves the bamboo leaf cover has some
disadvantages. The lancet shape, the fanning-out of the bunches and the twisting of the leafs
necessitate more layers of leaf bundles, a steeper roof pitch and more solid substructure. But these
roofing is not rain proof after longer periods of rain.
Roofing’s with shingles made from bamboo shavings have a thick layer and are exceptionally wind
and rain proof. These shingles look like brushes with long bristles. They are bent over a batten and
sewn together.
When using organic materials for roofing, the ridge is the most exposed part of the rain-proof layer.
With hard roofing materials a half of a large diameter bamboo cane is placed on the ridge joint with
the convex side up. With soft materials the parting at the ridge has to be covered with an especially
carefully applied layer of material. This layer is secured by bars against being lifted off by the wind.
The roof surfaces are protected against the wind by wide-mesh lattices of bamboo strips. At the
verges securing boards made from halved canes are tied into the rafters with inserted keys. Bamboo
houses usually have no gutters. An exception are gutter-type purlins, whose water catching function
is, however, only secondary.

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BAMBOO HOUSES

Bamboo houses are without exception skeletal buildings having raised floors with main posts which
are anchored in the ground. Typical bamboo elements are canes, halved canes, laths, beading,
bamboo boards and rope ties. This way of construction offers the following advantages: pre-
fabrication, simple assembly, simple replacement of structural parts; the bamboo elements can be
easily dismantled and reused.
Posts, battens, rails, purlins and rafters from the longitudinal and transversal bamboo framework.
Normal cane diameters are 5 - 10 cm. Walls, floors and roof are linings rather than stiffening
elements of the non-rigid framework because braces and diagonal stays are absent in those planes.
The structural safety of the skeletal structure is almost exclusively provided by the posts anchored in

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the ground. The only vertical and horizontal forces acting on the structure are wind pressure, roof
moisture, live loads and dead weight.
The framing is connected by articulated joints. All the framing bars can slightly move in relation to
one another. Although each part is able to transfer all axial and transversal forces Rigid connections
or joints are very rarely used. Above all the structure must be able to withstand dynamic loads, for
example wind gusts.
The building materials as well as the structure have a high elasticity and low mass. This is the reason,
why these houses are secure from an earthquake.

BAMBOO SCAFFOLDING

Because of the favorable relationship between Load-bearing capacity and weight, bamboo can be
used for the construction of save scaffoldings even for very tall buildings.
Lashed cane extension:
Even at their connections the canes are not treated in any way. Only lashed joints are used. The cane
extension is carried out by lashing the cane ends together with several ties. The ties are arranged in
such a way that forces acting vertically downwards wedges the nodes in the lashing. With larger cane
diameters the friction can be increased by tightening the rope between the canes.

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The vertical and horizontal canes used for scaffolding are almost exclusively joined using soft
lashing. This technique has the great advantage that the joints can be retensioned to the right degree
without difficulty and also quickly released again.

BAMBOO TRUSS

For pitched roof construction, trusses of different span according to the size of room form the
important components of the house to sustain the roof loads. Trusses transmit the load to the ground
through columns or walls. When the top and bottom chords and strut members are properly jointed
by suitable fastening devices, a truss can resist the compressive and tensile forces conglomerate and
as such give a stronger support to the roofing materials even against storms and earthquakes. Like a
nail jointed timber truss, a bamboo truss is also designed with criteria fulfilled in respect of stresses,
spacing’s size of members etc. As compared to the intuitional practice of making the roof by lashing
two pieces of bamboo culms at ridge point . The modern methodology of fabricating bamboo truss
by jointing the top and bottom chords and also the strut members by gusseting or wiring is
considered to be better. The latter has the advantage of covering more space without any sign of
sagging for the designed loads. There is no difficulty to fix them with the top of columns. Trusses
made with bamboo (4 m span) have shown on laboratory test a very high load deflection ratio.

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Fabrication procedure is also simple. A layout, according to its span and slope (generally 30°) is
made on the ground or floor of workshop. Selected bamboo pieces are sized and placed over the
layout. End faces in the joints are cut with minimum gap in between the meeting members which are
preliminary fixed by slender wires. As per the configuration of joints, gusset plates, preferably of 12
mm ply or 20 mm thick harder timber planks are cut and placed on both the faces of the faces of the
joints these are then fastened by 3.55 mm dia nails or better by mature bamboo branch pins of 7-8
mm dia (solid) driven through pre-bored holes. At least two nails/pins should be in one jointing
member (Figure 1) so that the joint is tightened to enable the whole act to resist untimely the
oncoming loads.

BAMBOO PURLINS

Bamboo culms either in the full form (round) or in half split (in case of bigger dia bamboo) forms are
used as purlins. They are duly wired with specially driven bamboo pins near the nodal points in the
top chord of the trusses to support the roof grid and roofing materials.

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CHAPTER 5

ADVANTAGES OF BAMBOO

In general

 fast growing natural material

 binding of CO2
 sustainability
 available in large amounts (countries of origin)

As a building material
 high mechanical strength
 high flexibility (earthquake-proof)
 inexpensive and sustainable
 innovative application for representative buildings with high span widths)
 application as whole Culm or as pre-fabricated
 product (e.g. plates)

As a space frames
 thrust load: maximum utilization of the mechanical properties of the bamboo profile
 (tube with reinforcements)
 better environmental performance for use of whole bamboo culms than for processed
 products.
 prefabrication of construction elements:
 easy and fast application
 no adjustments at the construction site
 quality assurance by prefabrication
 Joint construction transferable from other materials (e.g. steel etc.)
 reusability of beams and joints

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DISADVANTAGES OF BAMBOO

 It requires preservation.
 Shaped by nature
 Bamboo does not lend itself to being painted because of its waxy coating.
 Bamboo is not designed to bear weight width-wise.
 Durability- bamboo is subjected to attack by fungi, insects; for this reason, untreated bamboo
structures are viewed as temporary with an expected life of not more than 5 years.
 Jointing- although many jointing techniques exist, their structural efficiency is low.
 Lack of design guidance and codes.
 Prone to catch fire very fast by the friction among the culms during wind, and is seen to cause
forest fires

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CHAPTER 6

CASE STUDY

Ayesha Syeda, Barvaliya Shrujal Jayesh Kumar, A Case Study on Bamboo as Green Building
material, (December 2014)

In this study, Bamboo is lighter in weight than bird but is stronger than steel. It takes carbon dioxide
in and releases 30% more oxygen than tree. It grows a meter in one year and is mature in almost 3
years. Houses constructed using this bamboo are cool in summer and stays warm in wintry weather
and more over it can resist earthquakes and can stand forever. The environmental and financial
comparison demonstrates that bamboo can compete with building material. Bamboo is a natural
product and will therefore always have some extent of irregularity. It is therefore suggested that the
bamboo culm should be used in functions were the measurement requirements are not entirely
precise or fixed, as in temporary buildings (e.g., pavilions and tents) or small civil projects.
Furthermore, bamboo can play a role as a non supporting or finishing material.

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CHAPTER 7

CONCLUSION

 Since time immemorial, bamboo has played an important role in the development of mankind. It
is used for a wide range of day-to-day purposes, both as a woody material and as food. It has
been the backbone of much of the world’s rural life and will remain so as the population
increases. Bamboo will continue to play an important part in the development of enterprises and
the transformation of rural environments, in all regions of the developing world where it grows.
 On account of the enforcement of our natural forest protection project, wood is becoming
increasingly scarce. The realization that bamboo is the most potentially important non- timber
resource and fast-growing woody biomass, has evoked keen interest in the processing,
preservation, utilization and the promotion of bamboo as an alternative to wood. The properties
as top grade building material and increased availability of bamboo in our country makes it
possible to use, bamboo in the field of construction extensively. Its high valued utilization not
only promotes the economic development, but also saves forest resources to protect our
ecological environment as a wood substitute.
 As an economic building material, bamboo’s rate of productivity and cycle of annual harvest
outstrips any other naturally growing resource, if today you plant three or four structural bamboo
plants, then in four or five years later you will have mature clumps, and in eight years you will
have enough mature material to build a comfortable, low cost house.

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