As focus is drawn toward more sustainable construction practices, use of bamboo as a structural building material is growing as a topic of interest. It is highly renewable, has low-embodied energy, and has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of steel, concrete, and timber. Composite lumber made from bamboo, termed laminated bamboo lumber (LBL), has gained the particular interest of researchers and practitioners of late, since it has bamboo's mechanical properties but can be manufactured in well-defined dimensions, similar to commercially available wood products. Its primary drawbacks are that it is difficult to connect and is more costly than competing, locally available materials. This paper presents the advantages and challenges of embracing LBL as an alternative building material. Experimental and analytical data on production, performance, economics, and environmental impact of bamboo and LBL are reviewed, synthesized, and further analyzed to present an overview of the viability of using bamboo as a structural material in North America.

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This paper introduces a new, structural wood-concrete composite system. The system is formed by joining a wood component, such as a floor beam or laminated plate, to a concrete slab utilizing a continuous steel mesh of which one half is glued into a slot in the wood while the other half is embedded into the concrete. Two series of tests were performed and are presented: static push-out tests ͑to establish shear properties of the connector͒ and a full scale bending test with a span of approximately 10 m. Test results reveal that the steel mesh performs favorably-as a stiff yet ductile shear connector between the wood and the concrete. Design equations, per European standards ͑in absence of North American standards͒ are described and used to predict the failure load of the bending test. Calculations indicate that the tested beam performs with near full composite action-specifically, 97% effective stiffness and 99% strength of that of a beam with full composite action. This is a marked improvement in the efficiency of wood-concrete systems developed to date. The system shows itself to be superior to alternative systems in its high structural efficiency as well as being relatively easy to install and economic.

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