JAMNYA PROJECT · bamboo workshop. Bamboo Treatment and Skill development workshop (1 week – Facilitated by Giant Grass) • Types and uses of bamboo • Bamboo harvesting • Bamboo

1Jamnya Project - Bamboo Assessment Report Apr 2018

JAMNYA PROJECTBamboo Assessment Report

April 2018

2 Jamnya Project - Bamboo Assessment Report Apr 2018

1. 1. AVAILABILITY OF LOCAL BAMBOO 3

2. 2. LOCAL BAMBOO SKILLS 4

3. 3. ASSESSMENT OF BAMBOO ROOF FOR FIRST BUILDING 6

4. 4. NEXT STEPS 9

4.1 4.1 SETTING UP OF BAMBOO TREATMENT FACILITY 9

4.2 4.2 DESIGN OF FUTURE BUILDINGS 10

4.3 4.3 POTENTIAL WORKSHOP PROGRAM 12

4.4 4.4 SUMMARY OF BAMBOO ACTIVITIES 13

TABLE OF CONTENT


1. AVAILABILITY OF LOCAL BAMBOOWe visited few places to see the availability of local bamboo. The two places where we found bamboo that can be used for future construction includes Saw Mill at Khiroda and KVK plantations in Pal.

There seems to be two main species of bamboo available in the region. A larger bamboo more than 10cm in diameter is potentially Bambusa Bambos or commonly known as Giant Thorny Bamboo. This bamboo is suitable for construction with thick walls in the lower sections of the culm and has been used for the main rafters in the building built last year. There are only a few clumps of this around both in Khiroda and Pal. The other common bamboo found in the area is around 5-6cm in diameter. The species of this bamboo is currently not known. The local tribal people in the region use this bamboo to build the bamboo mat and mud plastered walls. This bamboo has also been used for the battens in the first teacher’s quarter building. The KVK compound in Pal has more than 50 clumps of this bamboo. There are also some clumps of Dendrocalamus Strictus in the region, which is a nearly solid bamboo and ideally suitable of furniture.

Bambusa Bambos near Saw Mill Bambusa Bambos at KVK compound


Ability to harvest local bamboo due to forestry department restrictions was raised as one of the issues during the visit. This has been the case in the past in India where most of the bamboo is on forestry land and was classified as a forestry product making it difficult to use. Recently, the prime minister of India made a commitment towards promoting bamboo and creating a Bamboo Economy. As part of this, bamboo is now classified as a grass and it should make it easier to harvest and use bamboo.

2. LOCAL BAMBOO SKILLSBamboo is primarily used in the region to build houses and baskets. Walls made out of woven bamboo mats and plastered with a mixture of mud and cow dung are common in the Jamnya region. Most houses use timber framing with walls made from bamboo mat. Bamboo doesn’t seem to be used for making the structure of the house, this is probably due to the availability of timber from the forest in the past and use of brick and concrete in more recent times.

Smaller diameter bamboo at KVK compound


Bamboo is also used to make baskets, which are used to store food and grains.

Traditional houses in Jamnya

Woven bamboo baskets

We didn’t see any evidence of bamboo used for any craft purposes or any industry based around bamboo craft. Although the familiarity of bamboo amongst the tribal people does provide the possibility to use the bamboo for much more that weaving mats for walls.


3. ASSESSMENT OF BAMBOO ROOF FOR FIRST BUILDINGOne of the key purposes of the trip was to inspect the condition of the roof of the first building. The bamboo roof was attacked by the borers and was treated with neem oil at the end of last year. Before treatment all the sawdust was removed from the bamboo and it was injected with neem oil liquid.

Upon inspection we found a lot of saw dust coming out of the bamboo poles. This is usually a sign of borer activity that would have happened in recent times. Although, we did not see any live borers drop from the bamboo. Considering the last treatment was done only 3 months ago it was hard to say if this saw dust was a result of the same borers or new borers had arrived after the treatment.

Upon inspection we found that 4-5 poles were in poor condition and would need to be replaced as soon as possible. It was hard to assess condition of other poles, some of which had minimal borer activity and some didn’t show any borer activity.

Additionally, most of the bamboos have significant amount of cracking and the holes that were drilled to inject neem liquid have been sealed with mud in a very crude manner. The bamboo rafter near the toilet were not fixed to the wall and hence the roof has lifted, see photos.

Teacher’s quarter building

Falling saw dust due to borer activity


Rafters lifted due to wind creating a gap between the wall and roof

Signs of cracking and borer activity

Cracks sealed with mud


There are two options for the roof structure:

1. Replace the damaged poles as part of the next trip in Nov 2018

This option would be the easiest and have the least impact. Considering the condition of most of the bamboos in the roof it is possible that other bamboos might need to be replaced in the next 2-3 years. This would mean the work would need to be done twice on the same building, which would not be ideal.

2. Replace the entire roof structure.

This is considered the best option and would provide certainty towards the use of building in the future. The entire roof structure would need to be removed and rebuilt as part of this option. It will be possible to reuse the tetra-pack roofing sheet again with the new rafters.

There are range of other factors that will influence the rectification of the roof structure, such as treatment of bamboo poles, timing of the next workshop and participants attending the next workshop. Considering the next trip will be in Nov 2018, all the bamboo needs to be treated and ready if we are to replace the entire roof. It is considered that it would be difficult to achieve this in the next six months, as we still need to set up the facility, train local people and also treat and dry the bamboo poles.

Based on the above constraints it was discussed and agreed with the rest of the team that the key bamboo poles be replaced in Nov 2018 with a view that the entire roof will be redone as part of the roof construction of the second building.

Interior view


4. NEXT STEPSBelow are the next steps related to the bamboo and design component of the project:

4.1 SETTING UP OF BAMBOO TREATMENT FACILITY

Overall there was support from the local team in terms of setting up of a bamboo treatment facility. Based on this different options of bamboo treatment were discussed. It was agreed that the soaking method would be best for treating the bamboo poles. It was also agreed that KVK compound in Pal would be the best place for the treatment facility and they would be happy to start preparatory works on the treatment infrastructure.

Bamboo harvesting and treatment process map was developed and shared as below:

The treatment facility will require following elements: • Shed to stockpile harvested bamboo• Trough tank for soaking bamboo poles (Size 6m long x 1.5m wide x 0.5m high)• Drying shed to accommodate 6m long bamboo poles• Storage shed to store dried bamboo poles

Various sites for the treatment facility were considered, with an agreement that the nursery site in the KVK compound would be best for the new facility. It is close to the well, has shade from large trees and a workshop space that can be used to store dried bamboo poles.


4.2 DESIGN OF FUTURE BUILDINGS

Design and location of future buildings was discussed in detail at Jamnya and at meetings in Pal. Zambare showed us the plan which included 3 dwellings in the same footprint as the existing dwelling. He also mentioned that this is an idea and he is open to other design suggestions.

Paul, Shahveer and myself discussed design opportunities that reflect the local climate, building typology and skill. Based on this we came up with a new layout plan for the teachers quarters that includes and courtyard and will use local bamboo mat weaving skill for internal partition walls.

It was agreed that Shahveer will get the design drawn up and Giant Grass will provide advice on the bamboo components of the building. If required Giant Grass will be happy to draw up the plans and design of the new building as well.

Location of the new treatment facility site


Concept plan for the new Teacher’s quarters

Concept sketches showing various details


4.3 POTENTIAL WORKSHOP PROGRAM

There are a range of possibilities for workshops in Nov 2018 and moving forward. Overall it was agreed that work should focus on completing one building at a time instead of building 3 buildings simultaneously.

A potential 2 week workshop program can include 1 week of Bamboo treatment and skill development workshop and 1 week of compressed brick making and brick building workshop. Depending on the number of participants the workshops can be run in 2 groups where one group does the bamboo workshop first and then does the brick workshop and the other group does the brick workshop first and then does the bamboo workshop.

Bamboo Treatment and Skill development workshop (1 week – Facilitated by Giant Grass)• Types and uses of bamboo• Bamboo harvesting• Bamboo treatment including soaking method• Exploratory bamboo construction including joinery and connection methods, trusses, etc. • Replace damaged bamboo poles in first building

Brick making and building workshop (1 week – Facilitated by Put Your Hands Together & Agari)• Benefits of compressed earth brick construction• Understanding soil• Making compressed earth bricks• Building with compressed earth bricks

Based on the above program SVM/KVK will need to have the following organized before Nov 2018 – • Treat atleast 20 bamboo poles to be used in the roof• Build foundation for second building• Make bricks and have atleast half of them ready for the second building

Workshop participants could include people from CERES Global, people interested in bamboo construction through Giant Grass and people from India through Put Your Hands Together. Ideally, both the workshop above are centrally organised and advertised with all the partners to maximise reach and bookings.

Additionally, if there are students from Swinburne as part of the New Colombo grant it is a possible to run a bamboo design and construction workshop in Jan 2019 focused on the design and construction of a gazebo in Pal at the KVK compound.


4.4 SUMMARY OF BAMBOO ACTIVITIES

Based on the above workshop plan following is a summary of activities required:

Before Nov 2018 -• Building treatment tank• Source chemicals for bamboo treatment• Plant new bamboo plants in monsoon at KVK compound• Build shed for storage of bamboos and treatment• Organise tools for the workshop

At Nov 2018 workshop -• Clean up existing bamboo clumps at KVK• Harvest bamboo for treatment• Treat bamboo poles and dry• Exploratory bamboo design and construction focused on skills and techniques that will be used in the

new building.


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JAMNYA PROJECT · bamboo workshop. Bamboo Treatment and Skill development workshop (1 week – Facilitated by Giant Grass) • Types and uses of bamboo • Bamboo harvesting • Bamboo