Strength and Durability Properties of Bamboo and Steel Fibre Concrete

In recent times, the high cost and general shortage of reinforcing steel in many parts of the world has lead to increasing interest in the possible use of alternative locally available materials for the reinforcement of concrete. This is case especially in the developing countries where about 80% of population lives in villages.This has lead to research on several non-ferrous reinforcing materials in structural concrete and also steel, cement, synthetic polymers and metal alloys used for construction activities are energy intensive as well as cause environmental pollution during their entire life cycle. In this context, use of bamboo which is fast growing and ecologically friendly material for structural applications especially in a tropical country like India is being considered as quite appropriate and also bamboo is a natural material which has great appeal in terms of availability and ease of use in the rural and farming communities in developing world. The study aims at exploring ways of making the use of bamboo as building material in reinforced concrete as simple, efficient and cost-effective for rural area construction.