The Wood of the Eastern Hemisphere
This is the Image most folks have when they hear Bamboo. This is usually the limit of interaction with bamboo at least those in the western hemisphere.
However the bamboo shown is not the only bamboo out there. There is bamboo that have reached the height of midsize trees and have a diameter of 6-7 inches.
What is bamboo?
Bamboo is a perennial grass that can grow to great heights. The part we see is just part of the plant much like a mushroom is really only one part of the fungus. There is a rhizome growing underground which is the real plant the stalk (also called the culm) is just one part of the entire plant. In fact a bamboo could lose the entire culm all at once and still live. It would just be a little while before it grew another culm.
What can bamboo be used for?
Bamboo can be and is being used for many things. Such uses range from bamboo scaffolding for support and the safety of the workers during construction to using bamboo to construct the drum of a speaker.
How to build a bridge from bamboo
It is actually very easy to build a bridge from bamboo. First you get someone that knows how to make a bridge safe. Then you learn what the characteristics are of bamboo. Such as the tensile strength, compressive strength and
strain.
Then start building the basic design.
Most bamboo bridges will have an arc like the one in the picture below. This one was built by Joerg Stamm[1] in a small village in Ecuador.