TRADITION BUILDING MATERIAL - B A M B O O

Bamboo

are found in more than a hundred nations. It is found

extensively in China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Brazil. It

belongs to the family of grasses. There are over 700 species of
bamboo, and many are used in the building.

They grow at a very fast rate,

normally reaching their full size in one year and maturity in three or four years. The
stems known as culms are usually cylindrical and hollow. Knots divide the stem at
regular intervals. Depending upon the species, the culms may be as little as 3m
(10ft) or as tall as 35m (115 ft). Culms diameters range from a few millimeters up to
15 cm or more. It is easily worked with rudimentary tools. It can survive in semiarid
conditions (rainfalls in the range of 600 mm to 2000 mm). Bamboos often grow wild,
but in countries where they provide food and materials for family needs, it is
common to see

Anatomy of Bamboo

Structural Properties of Bamboo

it cultivated in and around villages.

TRADITION BUILDING MATERIAL - B A M B O O

In a given situation, a building material should be as light as possible to carry a given load. If we compare bamboo with
some of the contemporary materials then we will find that it is more efficient than the rest.
Material

Bamboo
Teak wood
Mild steel

Density

Compressive strength

Strength / wt.

(Kg / lit.) 1

( kg / cm2 ) 2

ratio

645
532
4250

2/1=3
897
880
544

0.719
0.604
7.800

Source: Venu Bharati

Every material under stress (tensile or compression) deforms (expands or contracts). When the load is removed before
failure, the material returns to its original size and shape. The stress limit to which the material can be taken without losing
the ability to return to the original size or shape is called stiffness limit.
Stiffness Factor = stiffness limit / density
Material
Bamboo
Mild steel
Timber
Concrete

Stiffness Factor
33
27
18
10
Source: Venu Bharati

Bamboo can be used as full cane or split with machete longitudinally into halved or quartered strips or segments. The
bamboo is cut this way because of its structural properties and long fibers with their parallel orientation. Bamboo plays a

TRADITION BUILDING MATERIAL - B A M B O O

major role in construction: as a structural element for posts, beams and railings, or a stiffening frame and as a cladding
(for roof, wall or fence).
Bamboos with a large diameter are widely used as structural element, to make floor joists, wall frames, columns and roof
structures. Split and flattened bamboo are also used to make floors. Bamboo makes an excellent scaffolding, gutters and
water pipes. Its high tensile strength and straightness makes it a valuable structural material, and one that has been
useful in achieving typhoon-resistant structures.
The walls act as protective screen; they are required to provide ventilation and light. This can be obtained by interlacing
the strips with each other.

Interlacing Bamboo for Walls and Fences

In Columbia split bamboo stems are flattened and nailed onto the supporting framework (of bamboo or timber) to make
wall panels. In Laos, bamboo woven mats are used in a similar way, with many different styles of weaving and thickness.

TRADITION BUILDING MATERIAL - B A M B O O

Similar panels are used for making doors and shutters. It is also used to make half-round tiles, or split open to make flat
tiles.

Use of Bamboo for Roof Tiling

It has been used as the framing for earth walls and provides some protection against earthquake damage, but typically
the usefulness of this protection has been short-lived because of decay caused by insects. Reeds, bamboo and palm
stems have been used as reinforcement in elements such as lintels, combined with plaster or earth. Learning from this,
recent research has worked on using bamboo as reinforcement in concrete, with only moderate success.
Joinery
In order to assemble the structural skeleton, canes of different diameters are joined by interpenetration, without auxiliary
means. Canes are inserted into slots of the same dimension. Joints are often effected using rope binding and bamboo
pegs, and skill is often required to achieve good connections.

TRADITION BUILDING MATERIAL - B A M B O O

All fibres that make up a bamboo culm, run parallel to the length direction. Therefore, bamboos split very easily, and
cannot be nailed, although the bamboo Guadua Augustifolia can be nailed easily. When required, instead of hammering
nails, holes can be drilled and one can use various fasteners for joinery.

Joinery using the hollow

and cycle riverts bolts

Bamboo dowels

Use of G.I. nuts and bolts

TRADITION BUILDING MATERIAL - B A M B O O

Methods of joining bamboo

The two recent methods that have been devised to bend bamboo are:

Bending by ammonia curing

Heat bending of aluminum foil covered on culms

TRADITION BUILDING MATERIAL - B A M B O O

Some of the Advanced Methods of Bending Bamboo

TRADITION BUILDING MATERIAL - B A M B O O

Traditional Joinery

TRADITION BUILDING MATERIAL - B A M B O O

Shortcomings of Bamboo
Decay and insect attack are the main problems of using bamboos. Fire is also a hazard. Cost often makes preventive
treatment against decay and fire unrealistic. Good design and good use of materials can provide better protection. In most
parts of India, the following prevention measures are followed:

the bamboo is not cut in rainy season,

only mature bamboo is cut,

roasting it on light wood fire expels moisture and retards fungal growth.

Houses with bamboo

Northeast India
In India, bamboo is extensively used in the northeast part of the country. The northeast India covers states of Assam,
Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Meghalaya. It is the only region with wet alluvial soil and
has unique flora and fauna. Most of the vernacular architecture employs bamboo as one of the primary building materials.
Apart from structural frame, various kinds of wall screens, panels and partitions are made of woven bamboo laths. These
porous, screen-type walls permit necessary ventilation and thermal relief.
Earthen buildings are not common I the deltaic plains, as the alluvial soil contains too much clay and is hence unsuitable
for buildings.
Adi (Arunachal Pradesh)
The Adi tribe is the largest tribe in Arunachal Pradesh and comprises several sub tribes. The area populated by the Adis is
situated in the central Arunachal Pradesh. An Adi village is established at a safe place on the slope of a hill ridge or in the
valley.

TRADITION BUILDING MATERIAL - B A M B O O

Adi houses are bamboo structures, strengthened with wood wherever
available and secured with cane buildings. The level for the floor is
obtained by driving into the hillside bamboo stilts, varying in length from
1.2m to 3m according to the fall of the hill slope.
Across these stilts are tied wooden beams and battens, leaving small
gaps between where they cross each one another. On this firm
framework are placed mats of thick split bamboo culms that form the
floor.
This raised platform of the floor is approximately rectangular in shape and varies in length. This platform is walled on all
sides with roughly hewn wooden planks or split bamboo mats, slightly inclined towards outside.
The roof is thatched with dried palm leaves that are tied to the bamboo
frame by the means of bamboo ropes. The roof slopes down to the
platform to protect the walls form strong winds. After the roof, thatching
is complete, bamboo poles are tied horizontally, inside the house, from
one end of the side posts to the other, to give additional support to the
roof. A part of this ceiling is covered with split bamboo and used for
storing paddy and other articles of daily use.

TRADITION BUILDING MATERIAL - B A M B O O

Mishing (Assam)
The Mishing people build long, rectangular houses (char ghar) on a bamboo platform raised 1-2m above the ground,
depending upon the expected flood level during the monsoon. The char ghar is usually flanked by large open spaces on
both sides and on the front. The interior is a flexible arrangement of spaces, demarcated by 2.5m high bamboo screens.
Pigs are penned in the space underneath the raised floor. The perforations in the bamboo matting floor facilitate easy
waste disposal.
The roof and the floor of the char ghar are supported by independent structural system. The floor substructure is
supported on timber stilts about 20cm and embedded 60cm deep into the ground.

The roof substructure is a series of timber trusses at every 2msupported over timber beams of
25cm x 15 cm cross-section that run along the two longer walls. The roof cladding comprises
12cm thick grass thatch placed over bamboo rafters and purlins. The pitch roof is about 30 0
with about 1m overhang on all sides. Flattened bamboo mats hung from the timber beams on
all sides form the wall cover.

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Bibliography

Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of The World, Volume1Paul Oliver

Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of The World, Volume2Paul Oliver

Venu Bharati Vinoo Kaley