ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: This paper reports the design, construction, testing of the world’s first modern bamboo pedestrian bridge. Comparing with the steel structure, the price of the bamboo overbridge can economize almost 50%. In the meantime, adopting bamboo beam, called as glubam®, the bridge has much lighter superstructure and is easier to construct compared with conventional steel or concrete. The authors adopted a modular design concept, enabling the efficiency of construction. Column and girder elements were manufactured using laminated bamboo veneer sheets, and were joined using steel nails, bolts, plates and angle connectors. Three full-size girders were tested to verify the behavior of the main structural girders with different design configurations and were proved to be satisfactory. The bridge is functioning well for more than one year after it was opened to usage.
