Technology News

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Now, a Bamboo bridge thats strong enough for 8-ton trucks

The worlds first bamboo bridge that can carry the weight of trucks has been built in a village in the central province of Hunan in China.

Washington, Dec 13 : The world's first bamboo bridge that can carry the weight of trucks has been built in a village in the central province of Hunan in China.

The ten-metres-long bridge was designed by Yan Xiao, a professor at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering.

The bridge, made from pre-fabricated structural elements, was erected within a week by a team of eight workers without heavy construction equipment.

Trucks have already driven via the bridge, which was officially opened up for traffic on Dec 12.

While traffic on the bridge will be limited to the 8-ton design capacity, preliminary tests on a duplicate bridge erected on the campus of Hunan University have shown much higher strength.

The new bridge is the latest instalment in research on structural bamboo being carried on by Xiao, who in addition to his appointment at the USC Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Enviornmental Engineering holds an appointment at the College of Civil Engineering of the Hunan University, China.

Prof. Xiao expects his modern bamboo bridge technology to be extensively used in pedestrian crossing, large number of bridges in rural areas in China, as a environmental friendly and sustainable construction material.

ANI