Hong Kong's Bamboo Scaffolding

[Randy W]

Bamboo is the national wood of China, much like pine and oak in the U.S. Much of China's hardwood was burned for Mao's "Great Leap Forward". Re-forestration has been very extensive ever since, but, basically - bamboo grows MUCH faster than most of the hardwoods.

The scaffolding in China is mostly metal painted yellow.

from the SCMP

Bamboo scaffolding in Hong Kong

 

Quote

 

Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world where bamboo is still widely used for scaffolding in construction. It’s flexible, strong and cheaper than steel and aluminium — metal alternatives that are now more commonly used in mainland China and elsewhere in Asia. In Hong Kong, skilled armies of scaffolders can erect enough bamboo to engulf a building in a day — even hours — using techniques that are thousands of years old, and have been passed down through generations.

 . . .

Hong Kong’s scaffolding bamboo typically comes from the Zhaoqing area in Guangdong province and the Guangxi region in southern China, bordering Vietnam. The bamboo is usually transported to Hong Kong via Macau.

 . . .

Bamboo’s internal cell-like structure allows it to withstand compression, making it an ideal material for scaffolding.

 . . .

Why bamboo?
Compared to steel, bamboo is much lighter, six times faster to erect and 12 times faster to dismantle. It’s also a fraction of the cost. Bamboo scaffolding doesn’t require sophisticated machinery or complex tools to erect, just skilled workers with nylon ties. If properly erected, bamboo scaffolding can be stronger than steel and far more flexible. The resulting structure is also easy to modify, if necessary.

 . . .

All bamboo is at least three years old, and dried for at least three months. Each piece is about seven metres long, can be stored in the open, and typically usable three times before it starts to bend, split and weaken.

 

 

[Randy W]

Why Hong Kong Still Uses Bamboo to Build Buildings

306,595 views Apr 16, 2020 Think of construction, and you’ll probably imagine scaffolding made of steel or aluminum. But in Hong Kong, the material of choice is bamboo. The densely populated city is one of the last places on earth that still uses bamboo in construction, even when building skyscrapers. The organic material is said to be stronger and more flexible than steel. We spent a day up high with Hong Kong’s death-defying bamboo scaffolding workers and met one of the last bamboo theater artisans in town.