90 Types of Bamboo used for Building and Construction

What type of bamboo is best for building? The best bamboo species for building and construction are found in the tropics, more specifically within the genera: Guadua, Dendrocalamus and Bambusa. Tropical bamboos generally grow taller and bigger than temperate bamboos and have thicker walls, which often results in better structural and mechanical properties.

From the more that 1700 bamboo species that exist in the world there are only 90 species that have documented records for being used in construction. Many other bamboos are utilized for building crafts and furniture, but in this article we want to focus specifically on bamboo species that can be used for building houses, structures, bridges, trusses, roof support systems, scaffolding, etc.

How Strong is Bamboo?

Building with Bamboo
By Minke, Gernot

History proves that bamboo is strong, very strong. With proper joinery, bamboo poles can be used to create incredible spans. The Chinese even invented suspension bridges with tension cables up to 120 meters long that were made by braiding the exterior part of bamboo poles.

However, testing the mechancial properties of a particular bamboo species is very complex as many factors can affect the outcome. Growth conditions such as climate, altitude and soil affect the strength properties of bamboo. Bamboo grown on slopes is stronger than bamboo grown in valleys, and bamboos that grow in poor dry soils are usually more solid than those grown in rich soils.

Then there is also the aspect of age, moisture content, and part of the culm (basal, middle or top part). While tensile strength remains the same throughout the age of the bamboo plant, compressive strength increases as it gets older (5-6 years). For all of these reasons, studies often show different results even within the same species.

Much more details and different test results can be found in our article about the Mechanical Properties of Bamboo which concludes that:

  • The average tensile strength of most construction grade bamboo species is situated around 160 N/mm² which is 3 times higher than most conventional construction grade timbers.

  • The average compressive strength of most construction grade bamboo species is situated between 40 and 80 N/mm² which is twice to four times the value of most timber species.

  • The average bending strength of most construction grade bamboo species varies between 50 and 150 N/mm² and is twice as strong as most conventional structural timbers.

Construction Grade Bamboo Species

Thick-walled bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper)

The list below shows all the known construction grade bamboo species (in alphabetic order), and it includes the maximum length and diameter of each species along with its average wall thickness measured at the lower part of the culm. Wall thickness is species-specific, and certainly correlated with culm length and culm diameter, but often not linear. For instance, basal culm can be solid, lower and mid-culm thick-walled, upper culm thin-walled with small lumen, and culm apex solid.

Giant bamboos with thick walls are best for heavy duty construction such as multi-storey houses and bridges whereas smaller diameter bamboos or large bamboos with thinner walls are only suited for light or temporary structures. For construction purposes, wall thickness, density and fiber strength are the most important properties for greatest structural strength. 

What is not stated in the list are the mechanical properties of each species. By comparing the mechanical properties of each species we could even order each bamboo by its tensile, compression and bending strength, but as mentioned earlier, test results are often incomplete due to a lack of information about the testing procedures and/or used samples.

The goal of this list is to give an initial starting point, often the best bamboo for building and construction is the one you can easily source or is abundantly available in your region. But, if you are lucky enough to live in and area where Guadua angustifolia (Latin America) or Dendrocalamus asper (Southeast Asia) grows, then you have access to which are considered the strongest construction bamboos in the world!

SpeciesMax. LengthMax. DiameterCulm WallLight ConstructionHeavy Construction
Apoclada simplex8 m5 cmthick
Bambusa balcooa25 m15 cmvery thick
Bambusa bambos30 m18 cmvery thick
Bambusa burmanica20 m10 cmsolid
Bambusa clavata20 m9 cmthick
Bambusa dissimulator15 m7 cmthick
Bambusa eutuldoides12 m6 cmthick
Bambusa grandis15 m10 cmthick
Bambusa lako15 m8 cmthin
Bambusa lapidea17 m7 cmsolid
Bambusa longispiculata15 m8 cmthick
Bambusa malingensis10 m6 cmthick
Bambusa nutans12 m7 cmvery thick
Bambusa oldhamii12 m9 cmthin
Bambusa oliveriana15 m5 cmthick
Bambusa pallida20 m8 cmthin
Bambusa polymorpha25 m15 cmthick
Bambusa rigida9 m5 cmthick
Bambusa spinosa25 m12 cmthick
Bambusa textilis12 m6 cmthin
Bambusa tulda20 m10 cmvery thick
Bambusa tuldoides10 m5 cmthick
Bambusa valida16 m12 cmthin
Bambusa variostriata12 m7 cmthick
Bambusa vulgaris20 m10 cmthin
Chimonocalamus delicatus8 m4 cmthick
Chimonocalamus pallens6 m 3 cmthick
Chusquea culeou7 m4 cmsolid
Chusquea gigantea15 m5 cmsolid
Dendrocalamus asper30 m20 cm thick
Dendrocalamus barbatus18 m15 cmthick
Dendrocalamus brandisii33 m20 cmthick
Dendrocalamus copelandii30 m25 cmthin
Dendrocalamus dianxiensis28 m18 cmthick
Dendrocalamus giganteus30 m30 cmthick
Dendrocalamus hamiltonii23 m18 cmthick
Dendrocalamus hookeri20 m15 cmthick
Dendrocalamus jianshuiensis18 m12 cmthin
Dendrocalamus latiflorus25 m20 cmthick
Dendrocalamus longispathus18 m10 cmthick
Dendrocalamus membranaceus18 m10 cmthin
Dendrocalamus peculiaris18 m15 cmthick
Dendrocalamus pendulus30 m9 cmthin
Dendrocalamus sikkimensis18 m13 cmthick
Dendrocalamus sinicus30 m30 cmthick
Dendrocalamus stocksii9 m4 cmsolid
Dendrocalamus strictus15 cm8 cmsolid
Dendrocalamus xishuangbannaensis28 m22 cmthin
Dendrocalamus yunnanicus25 m18 cmthin
Gigantochloa albociliata10 m3 cmthick
Gigantochloa apus20 m9 cmthin
Gigantochloa atroviolacea16 m10 cmthin
Gigantochloa atter22 m10 cmthick
Gigantochloa balui12 m8 cmthin
Gigantochloa kuring25 m7 cmthick
Gigantochloa levis20 m13 cmthin
Gigantochloa ligulata10 m6 cmthick
Gigantochloa manggong15 m7 cmthin
Gigantochloa nigrociliata20 m6 cmthin
Gigantochloa pruriens15 m12 cmthin
Gigantochloa robusta20 m9 cmthin
Gigantochloa rostrata8 m4 cmthick
Gigantochloa scortechinii20 m12 cmthin
Gigantochloa verticillata20 m10 cmthick
Guadua aculeata25 m18 cmthick
Guadua amplexifolia20 m10 cmsolid
Guadua angustifolia25 cm15 cmthin
Guadua chacoensis20 m15 cmthin
Guadua macrostachya18 m7 cmthin
Guadua paniculata10 m3 cmthick
Guadua sarcocarpa20 m10 cmthin
Guadua superba20 m15 cmthick
Guadua trinii10 m5 cmthick
Guadua velutina15 m10 cmthick
Indosasa sinica15 m10 cmthick
Melocanna baccifera20 m7 cmthin
Oldeania alpina20 m12 cmthick
Oreobambos buchwaldii18 m10 cmthin
Otatea acuminata10 m3 cmthick
Oxytenanthera abyssinica10 m8 cmsolid
Phyllostachys edulis23 m18 cmthin
Phyllostachys kwangsiensis16 m10 cmthin
Phyllostachys makinoi16 m10 cmthin
Phyllostachys reticulata20 m15 cmthin
Phyllostachys sulphurea8 m4 cmthin
Schizostachyum grande22 m12 cmthin
Schizostachyum lumampao15 m8 cmthin
Thyrsostachys oliveri15 m8 cmsolid
Thyrsostachys siamensis13 m6 cmsolid
Valiha diffusa10 m10 cmthin

Stéphane Schröder

Guadua Bamboo SAS

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