Bamboo Reinforced Concrete Slabs for Fence Walls

The construction industry consumes large quantities of steel and emits carbon which is a dampener for sustainable growth all over the world. As an alternative to steel, bamboo and rattan cane have been tried as reinforcement in different countries on a very small scale only. This work aims at exploring the methods of adopting bamboo reinforced concrete slabs for erecting fence walls in rural parts of south-India. Presently, fence walls are erected using steel reinforced concrete (SRC) slabs which are cast as a cottage industry, without adhering to any specification. Twenty five (25) bamboo reinforced concrete (BRC) slabs of size 1000 mm by 300 mm by 50 mm (length- width- thickness) were cast in the laboratory using M20 mix ratio. The slabs were tested using (a) ultrasonic instrument and (b) universal testing machine to assess the quality of concrete and deflection values respectively. As a comparative study these tests were repeated on SRC slabs, procured from a vendor. The results reveal that the quality of concrete in BRC slabs was better than that of the SRC slabs. The BRC slabs failed at approximately 50% of the magnitude of load taken by SRC slabs at failure. The deflection and the crack width also followed the same trend. The cost analysis performed indicates that BRC slabs are cheaper by 25 to 30%. Therefore, it is recommended to adopt BRC slabs for erecting fence walls by which more bamboo will be grown, leading to a sustainable growth of the environment.