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Engineering

GluBam Construction

The sustainable bridge
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The bridge Yan Xiao built in Leiyang with GluBam was the town’s first. Each beam that spans the brick columns was created using Xiao’s novel process of transforming irregular bamboo into a practical building material. First he tore strips of bamboo from the stalk and arranged them in such a way as to provide the most strength. He then coated the strips with glue and compressed them in a self-built hydraulic press into beams, 33 feet long and up to three feet wide, each capable of supporting eight tons. Xiao says that the beams cost just 20 percent as much as imported lumber. Better still, rural China has a constantly replenishing supply of bamboo.

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Comments

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merrihew
12/05/08 at 6:32 pm

Great idea and green! It could work in other places with warped hardwoods, too. I'm not an engineer, but a 33' beam that supports 8 ton is stronger than "standard" beams.

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Ruri
12/06/08 at 7:22 pm

It seems far stronger then most other engineered beams designed to conserve wood it's almost as good a solid wood though not as strong as wood laminate.
It probably has better moisture resistance then OSB like products too.
This is a product China and the rest of the world needed desperately.

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visualize
12/09/08 at 2:31 pm

Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant in the world. Makes sense...

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BobbyJoe
12/10/08 at 10:59 pm

I first became interested in bamboo during a trip to Hong Kong in 1986 where I observed bamboo used for scaffolding reaching many stories high. Bamboo is used just like we in the US use steel scaffolding or other supports. As for the story about Glubam and a bridge, I was disappointed that the article did not show the bridge mentioned as using Glubam for construction. Any idea where I might find a picture of the bridge?

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grusso7

from Lehi, UT

12/11/08 at 1:39 pm

here is some info on this bridge:
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/architecture_construction/report-100137.html

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sowerofcrop
12/11/08 at 9:38 pm

if you travel the 80/90 tolroad in new york take a stop at the plazas and look at the composite structures in the older ones. I think the principal design is similar.

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sowerofcrop
12/11/08 at 9:38 pm

if you travel the 80/90 tolroad in new york take a stop at the plazas and look at the composite structures in the older ones. I think the principal design is similar.

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Eggman002 (not verified)
12/12/08 at 3:40 pm

How green is all that glue I wonder?

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lawrephord37
12/22/08 at 7:00 pm

WANTED A FLOATING CITY CONSTRUCTED OUT OF THESE BEAMS !!!
PLACE THE 80 MILE BY 80 MILE CITY AT THE BORDER OF
NORTH VIETNAM AND CHINA WITH A FLOATING BRIDGE FIVE OR
TEN MILES LONG !!!!

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freeplaystout
12/25/08 at 2:00 am

This is wonderful!
I've written about other bamboo engineering breakthroughs related to joining bamboo for suspension, but this is the first composite beam I've seen. Bamboo is the future of construction and luckily for us it is a carbon sink, grows really fast, and can be harvested locally and abundantly with the right vision. Check out my post "all that bamboo can do" at www.punkrockpermaculture.wordpress.com

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