Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 183, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 August 1919 — Javanese Use No Nails, No Iron—Only Bamboo—in Construction of Bridges [ARTICLE]

Javanese Use No Nails, No Iron—Only Bamboo—in Construction of Bridges

The natives of Java have a bridgebuilding technique which utilizes to the limit their slight resources for work of .this character. Of raw materials they are acquainted with but two, and one of these is really a product of their own ingenuity. They have no nails, no iron, no true wood; they are forced to rely entirely upon bamboo for the structural parts, and upon a rope, of their own manufacture to effect the junctures. In spite of these limitations, they achieve highly creditable results. The original element jvhich the Javan natives have brought to the construction of these bridges is made of a fiber taken from the native aren-palm, which grows all over the island. This fiber is of a black and horny substance. It makes a rope that resists effectively the heavy decaying action of the hot and damp tropical climate with its legions of fungi; in fact, it lasts for many years without any indications of rotting.