Bamboo road bridge can support 16-tonne trucks

A novel type of bridge with horizontal beams made from a bamboo composite proved strong enough to support even heavy trucks in tests.
The bamboo beams are cheaper and more environmentally friendly to make than steel or concrete, yet offer comparable structural strength. Xiao says the strips are cut from large stalks of bamboo, arranged in multiple layers, and bonded together with glue.
Pound-for-pound, bamboo is stronger than steel when stretched and more robust than concrete when compressed. It is an environmentally friendly building option because stalks several meters tall mature in just a few years, rather than a few decades.

Also since it is a grass, rather than a tree, it can be harvested like mowing a lawn – leaving the root system intact so that the plant can regrow.