Bamboo scaffolding in Hong Kong
January 12, 2025 7:55 AM   Subscribe

"In Hong Kong, skilled armies of scaffolders can erect enough bamboo to engulf a building in a day — even hours — using techniques that are thousands of years old, and have been passed down through generations."
posted by moonmilk (22 comments total) 39 users marked this as a favorite
 
Don't worry. Chinese bamboo is very strong.

(Obligatory)
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 8:04 AM on January 12 [6 favorites]


This video (linked from the main article) also covers temporary bamboo opera theaters built every year in Hong Kong's smaller villages. (Bonus: it includes the clip that Insert Clever Name Here referenced.)
posted by moonmilk at 8:16 AM on January 12 [6 favorites]


That's fascinating, moonmilk. Thank you.

I wonder about bamboo scaffolding for solarpunk futures.
posted by doctornemo at 8:28 AM on January 12 [3 favorites]


When the Folklife Festival featured China, I happened to be on the Mall during the construction of the bamboo installation. The workers' balance and concentration were impressive to watch - obviously they weren't building anything as tall as skyscraper scaffolding, but it was much taller than anything I'd want to be sitting on while building.
posted by EvaDestruction at 8:35 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]


On my one visit to Hong Kong it was very striking to see the bamboo scaffolding on shiny modern city buildings. It's the primary image that has stuck with me from that visit.

Wish we had those techniques here -- was talking with my builder about redoing the slate roof and he said the most expensive part of the job would be the scaffolding.
posted by Rhedyn at 8:39 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]


The toughest part of the job, though, is tying a proper knot to secure bamboo poles, which can take years to master.

Ok, I'll bite — what's so hard about the knot?
posted by Birds, snakes, and aeroplanes at 9:46 AM on January 12


Now I know how this unforgettable scene was possible. As Roger Ebert wrote, they really were up in those trees. (Of course, some wire must have been involved.)
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 9:52 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]


One of my favourite mistranslations was on a sign I saw in Hong Kong tied to bamboo scaffolding. that was beautiful to anyone working on code. Instead of saying “workers overhead”, it read “caution: maintenance works at a high level.”
posted by mhoye at 10:17 AM on January 12 [4 favorites]


The toughest part of the job, though, is tying a proper knot to secure bamboo poles, which can take years to master.

Ok, I'll bite — what's so hard about the knot?


The video at the end of the article gets into this a bit at about 5:57 minutes in. The builder is basically determining the stress points that need secured and supported, and then tying the knot so these 2 (or more) round rods remain stable under weight and wind, and then cutting it off so it doesn't impede further work. According to the speaker, it takes about an hour to learn and years to master. And per Google, there are a variety of knots to choose from depending on the purpose. Tyring to think of similar skills, I still have issues routinely tying off embroidery neatly every single time, and have never been able to successfully scaffold pencils together at right angles, a party trick I see some people do while bored at the office.
posted by beaning at 10:25 AM on January 12 [4 favorites]


I saw this on my 1 day/night visit to Bangkok. I took a short stroll outside the hotel my employer put me up in. There the men were climbing bamboo scaffolding, barefoot. They were extremely surefooted and agile. Lean and muscular.
posted by Czjewel at 10:37 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]


Rhedyn: It's the primary image that has stuck with me from that visit.

Same same. What a wondrous thing to see. I was amazed and fascinated. And then I went to eat noodle soup and that was really good too!
posted by Too-Ticky at 11:20 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]


A short bamboo segment with only one node at one end provides a fun drinking cup. Bamboo toilet paper rocks.
posted by jeffburdges at 3:10 PM on January 12


This is incredibly interesting and I started scratching around to see when natural materials were replaced by steel where I am (Australia). Trove seems to show evidence for newspaper stories about timber scaffolding well into the 20th century and even as late as the 1950s, though, notably, they're largely about accidents and collapses. The 1930s seems to have been the shifting point between technologies. I wondered if it was because of the risk of fire, but it seems to have been a question of cost; since by the time building techniques were being properly regulated the standard was fairly strict, it must have been also quite expensive. Builders seemed to appreciate re-use of hardier materials instead, which didn't depreciate.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:31 PM on January 12 [1 favorite]


They don't mention it in the article, but a friend from Hong Kong told me about this and how the most amazing part, in her opinion, was when they tear the scaffolds down—they throw down the bamboo and there are people at ground level whose job is to catch them barehanded.
Don't know if this is true or not, but it sounds bonkers.
posted by signal at 3:53 PM on January 12


I grew in Hong Kong, though I haven't been back for 19 years(!) - bamboo scaffolding was a constant presence on the older buildings in and around Mong Kok, because of the aforementioned maintenance work at high levels. I'm not sure it really is a mistranslation, since it works both as intended (maintenance works ongoing at height) and highlights the skill and dexterity of the workers!
posted by Dysk at 3:53 PM on January 12


On my couple of short trips to Hong Kong, I've been fascinated by the bamboo scaffolding and the workers effortlessly climbing up and down in ways that would give any construction worker here a heart attack at even the thought. Scaffolding made of steel is costly and time-consuming, but bamboo scaffolding would require access to large bamboo groves in the right conditions to grow quickly, so not likely to be useful in most of the world, unfortunately.

Having seen the rapid growth and high strength of bamboo when planting it at my former home, I have wondered if it would be feasible to plant bamboo and use the living stalks as the uprights for a structure, rather than cutting them down. This would also provide resilience for high winds, perhaps.
posted by dg at 4:14 PM on January 12 [3 favorites]


Everything I know about the wonders of bamboo scaffolding I learned from Jackie Chan movies
posted by thecjm at 5:34 PM on January 12 [1 favorite]


Saw this in Phnom Penh, but nowhere to this scale, only 3 or 4 stories. Bamboo is so strong for it's weight, it's kind of ridiculous.
posted by Sphinx at 7:38 PM on January 12 [1 favorite]


These days there is a lot of usage of plastic zip ties as well as the knots - although I think those are for securing the plastic sheeting to the outside of the bamboo structure.

I've seen whole sheets of bamboo partially removed from the sides of structures by high winds, but that seems like a very rare occurrence.

I've also thought about the high cost of scaffolding here in Australia, and whether bamboo could make that less so. When I had to hire some for roof repairs on my house it cost me about AUD$15k, but it didn't seem to matter how long it was up for, and in the end I think a large part of the cost was the construction labour and the transport required to bring the scaffolding to the site. Those two inputs alone in HK are nowhere near as expensive as in Australia.
posted by awfurby at 8:53 PM on January 12 [2 favorites]


awfurby, on one hand the cost is high in Australia because as a residential installer you're competing as a client against commercial builders, but it's also the costs of insurance premiums for the scaffolding company owners and installers. Those costs aren't something that would be reduced by a different material.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:47 PM on January 12


I love this, thank you - I've appreciated the incredible scaffolding of Hong Kong since I first visited decades ago, but people I try to tell don't believe me! I will send this to the naysayers. Thanks so much for posting!
posted by goo at 4:53 AM on January 13


The video shows a second of a guy dropping a huge pole straight down and a dude at the bottom catching it cleanly as it falls vertically. Crazy. Also the knot guy, who builds SEASONAL OPERA THEATERS out of it, says he can look at knots and tell how good the artisan is.

There are also some stats about cost compared to steel (50 times cheaper) and the other advantages and disadvantages. It’s considered invasive in the US but it’s a hell of a lot more useful than kudzu …
posted by caviar2d2 at 9:19 AM on January 13 [1 favorite]


« Older The biobattery that needs to be fed   |   all that glisters should probably be denominated... Newer »


You are not currently logged in. Log in or create a new account to post comments.