Reid Harvey on sat 12 may 01
I am in sympathy with those whose homes/ yards are being taken over by
bamboo, but here in Bangladesh this plant is a godsend, perhaps the most
environmentally responsible material there is for the construction of
low cost housing. The timber bamboo, upto 5 or 6 inch diameter, is a
light weight building material that can be used for construction of the
entire home, above the small foundation needed. The house is then
resistant to natural disasters like typhoons and earthquakes, and if
built up on stabilized soil piers it gets people above the annual flood
plane, which includes 80% of the country every year.
Actually the land of Bangladesh is the biggest river delta in the world,
which also means that roads are substantially built, high up above the
flood. Bamboo also serves to prevent erosion of the soil on either side
of the road. In short it may offer the only viable option as the ocean
rises, projected to inundate 30% of the country on a permanent basis by
2015. In their new homes, the displaced persons would be wise to build
with bamboo.
By contrast another popular building material in this country is fired
red brick, not quite so environmentally sound, but nevertheless the
building material of choice for many people. Actually, to some extent
red brick is necessary, especially since most of Bangladesh has
absolutely no rock or stone of any kind. So for many concrete building
applications the aggregate used to substitute for rock is broken red
brick. For structural applications, concrete beams, etc., it is
necessary to import stones from India.
Granted, this is a third world perspective, unlike anything applicable
to an industrial country. But I think it is important to note that
bamboo offers a wonderful alternative building material. As the worlds
impoverished population increases this should become better and better
understood. I might add that bamboo may be one of the major crop that
helps keep the world green as the tropical rainforests are clear cut.
(The amount paid for tropical hardwoods in Europe, the U.S. and Japan is
so high that in a poor country their is little incentive not to cut the
forests.)
Reid Harvey
Dhaka, Bangladesh
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