Bamboo culms and splints for building construction of alternative housing must be dry before installation. To understand the behavior of the material during the drying process, samples collected at three heights along the bamboo culms of Bambusa vulgaris 'Vittata' were dried in a laboratory solar kiln. The average density (0.66-0.73 g/cm(3)) as well as volumetric (18.56-10.66 ), radial (6.13-8.43 ), transverse (5.55-7.40 ) and longitudinal (0.49-0.97 ) shrinkages varied from bottom to top and with the age of the culm (between 2 and 5 years).
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