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Sebastian Kaminski gravatar image

Beware that most published strength values on bamboo are misleading. See our paper on this, which gives safe design values for most species: "Structural use of bamboo: Part 3: Design Values; The Structural Engineer, December 2016, Kaminski et al".

Be very cautious of durability as well, for both timber and bamboo. Very few species of timber are actually properly naturally durable against termites and rot, and no bamboo species are, so in nearly all cases you want to provide some protection against insects and rot. For rot, you simply need to keep it dry (i.e. elevated above ground, good drip details, good roof and overhang), and for insects it should be treated (e.g. with boron). See "Timber as a construction material in humanitarian operations" (www.humanitariantimber.org), and "Structural use of bamboo: Part 2: Durability and preservation; The Structural Engineer, October 2016, Kaminski et al".