The Durability of Wooden Building Structures

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Structures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 January 2027 | Viewed by 464

Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Building Constructions, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Ostrava, 708 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic
Interests: timber structures; timber bridges; service life; durability; bridge monitoring; structural diagnostics; wood degradation; biological agents; sustainable construction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The durability of wood and wood-based structures is a current topic in not only Central and Northern Europe but also North America. Due to its renewability and local availability, wood is also used in bridge construction. In recent decades, advanced timber-producing countries have significantly improved both the service life and structural quality of timber bridge structures. Examples include bridge structures in the USA—the oldest glulam bridge, the one in New York. Other examples include bridges in Canada, as well as bridges in Scandinavia and the Czech Republic, such as those in Černvír, Bohunice and Třebíč.

These structures are primarily threatened by biological agents; however, our predecessors were able to build timber bridges that have survived for hundreds of years. As we move from northern regions to regions closer to the equator, we encounter much more durable wood species but also far more invasive pests. Termites, in particular, are one of the main reasons for the limited use of wood in bridge construction in these regions. In such countries, timber is often replaced by bamboo, which has its own specific characteristics, pests and protection solutions.

The main focus of this Special Issue of the journal Buildings is the durability of timber and bamboo bridge structures around the world.

Dr. Roman Fojtík
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • timber
  • bridges
  • durability
  • bamboo
  • wood-destroying organisms

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

29 pages, 5816 KB  
Article
Mechanical Properties of New Bamboo and Bamboo–Timber Hybrid Composites for Sustainable Construction: Experimental Investigation
by Nima Jafarnia, Yuxin Ding and Amir Mofidi
Buildings 2026, 16(16), 3252; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16163252 - 17 Aug 2026
Viewed by 255
Abstract
This article presents an experimental investigation into the mechanical properties of new laminated bamboo and bamboo–timber hybrid composite materials for construction. A total of thirty-six bamboo and bamboo–timber hybrid composite specimens were manufactured, which include a new configuration that integrates bamboo and pine [...] Read more.
This article presents an experimental investigation into the mechanical properties of new laminated bamboo and bamboo–timber hybrid composite materials for construction. A total of thirty-six bamboo and bamboo–timber hybrid composite specimens were manufactured, which include a new configuration that integrates bamboo and pine strips in hybrid bamboo–timber composite members. An interleaved configuration of the hybrid bamboo–timber composites is proposed to enhance stress transfer and interfacial bonding. Such a design can mitigate global hygroscopic and thermal mismatch effects, including composites panel warping and continuous interfacial shear, through redistributing differential strains into small, localized scales. To minimize manufacturing energy demand, cold hydraulic pressing was used to prepare the specimens with bio-epoxy and polyvinyl acetate adhesives (PVAs). The list of experimental tests includes compression parallel to the grain, compression perpendicular to the grain, and flexure. The experimental results revealed that the developed bamboo and bamboo–timber composites outperform the reference materials consisting of commercial engineered bamboo and natural softwood. In particular, the average modulus of elasticity of the hybrid specimens bonded with bio-epoxy adhesive reaches 11.6 GPa (CoV = 13.8%), which is 40 percent greater than that of the tested commercial engineered bamboo specimens (CoV = 15.7%), emphasizing a stiffer and more reliable engineered bamboo. In the case of flexural testing, the hybrid bamboo–timber specimens reach the highest modulus of elasticity, while the engineered bamboo bio-epoxy test series exhibited a modulus of rupture that was 36% higher than that of the commercial engineered bamboo material with a CoV equal to 8%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Durability of Wooden Building Structures)
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