The sight of buildings encased in bamboo structures is always absorbing. These bamboo structures crisscross to form the scaffold, eventually hiding under a vast piece of green nylon mesh for safety purpose. Whenever gushes of wind bring the mesh leaning against the scaffold, the shadowy vertical and horizontal patterns of the skinny bamboos conjure up a remote memory of pictures showing gigantic warships of old kingdoms in full sail to the uncharted waters. In the hearts of the people ashore cheering for the ships, the puzzlement tightened its grip as the vessels vanishing on the horizon, “Will they be gone forever?”
In like manner, the bewilderment flashes across the minds of many culture lovers time and again, “Will this ancient practical art be made redundant one day? Will it be totally gone one day?”
Some old tales have it that the technique bamboo scaffolding was invented by Yaochaoshi, an ancient Chinese who built the first tree house in history. Since the word “shi” (literally, last name) in ancient names of the Chinese history usually refers to a clan instead of a person, the technique probably underwent some forms of evolvement among the Yaochao clan before it became a mature skill to pass down the generations.
At a glance, the bamboo scaffolds are unanimous in forms. A closer look easily reveals the contrary. In fact, there are different setups of bamboo scaffolds to cater for specific works sites.
For working at height, only double-row bamboo scaffold is allowed. Bamboo scaffolds for works on slopes require sloping catch fan be erected at a level close to the first floor and at not more than 15 metres vertical intervals to give minimum horizontal protection coverage of 1500mm. Large catch fan shall be erected at specific location to protect the public and or workers underneath. There are also the special scaffold of height exceeding 15 metres which must be designed by an engineer.
(This set of photos show how the workers move up
bamboo sticks to build the scaffold from height)
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