Jan 19, 2012
Bamboo scaffolding is still the choice of builders in modern Hong Kong
Despite the modernity of the city, Hong Kong is still growing sky-high by making use of age-old bamboo scaffolding. It’s light and flexible, making it much safer than its steel counterparts. And it is only a tenth of the cost.
Here’s a recent bit from Al Jazeera on the continued usefulness of bamboo scaffolding in China…
(via The Shanghaiist, images: 1, 2, 3, 4)
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It’s one of the many things I love about Hong Kong. In a city that’s driven by “new new new,” this old thing remains. I remember showing an American around Hong Kong once and when we saw a skyscraper encased in bamboo scaffolding, he just shouted “why?”. I responded “why not? It’s worked for thousands of years.”
They also defend the island with bamboo swords and catapults, and since the ground is still covered with jungle, they travel from skyscraper to skyscraper in bamboo flying machines.
Wonder what the rate of failure and accidents is?