Authors:K.M. Soni
Abstract:Bamboo has been rarely used in structural elements of the buildings. In beams, bamboo has been used as reinforcement in the form of bamboo strips embedded with cement concrete on experimental basis. Due to inadequate bond strength with concrete and durability requirements, bamboo reinforced cement concrete has not gained momentum and as such use of bamboo remained restricted to only nonstructural members in the buildings. In the Shanghai World Expo 2010, a 34 m diameter bamboo dome was constructed as a component of the India Pavilion which was designed to take dead and live loads and in which the dome was supported entirely on bamboos. Joining of bamboos was done in a well designed manner so as to take loads without using the concept of reinforced bamboo cement concrete. Treated Moso bamboos (Phyllostachys edulis) were used as structural members for taking the dead load of entire dome and live loads expected over the dome. Large numbers of ornamental plants were planted over the dome, dead load of was also accounted for, showing that treated bamboos can be successfully used in structural elements of a building.
Keywords:Moso bamboo, dome, treatment, bamboo buildings