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For most parts of the India, bamboo is a locally available material and has been used as building material for centuries. It can be easily grown and is one of the cheapest construction materials. A good bamboo cut into strips has the tensile strength almost equal to that of steel.

 

It is used for reinforcement, shuttering, scaffolding, roofing, piles, filler material and much more.

Bamboo in lime concrete can be used for foundations, especially in the sandy areas along the seacoast. It is resistant to seawater and remains intact whereas other foundations will crack with shifting sands. For places where stones and bricks are not available, foundation for mud walls can be of moist soil with layers of split bamboo reinforcement inserted.

However it needs experience to know about the quality of the bamboo and it is difficult to calculate the exact strength of slabs with bamboo reinforcements.