The ‘Yi Xin Qiao’ bridge project in Dujia Village, Chongqing, has been awarded the Jury’s Award of Sustainability Achievement at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Awards China 2019. This collaboration project between The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and three other universities in China was recognised for its outstanding ideas in bamboo research and the achievement in promoting rural sustainability. 

Bamboo is the most environmentally friendly building material known to the public. With years of studies and experiments, the CUHK team has made breakthrough to overcome the technical constraints of bamboo and improve its fragility, durability and structural integrity. This world leading effort will greatly promote the use of bamboo in the architectural sector. 

The ‘Yi Xin Qiao’ bridge measures 21 metres long and 3 metres wide, with a usable surface of two metres wide. Constructed with 700 moso bamboos, the bridge is the longest among modern bamboo bridges in rural China. This bamboo bridge design can theoretically be applied to most impoverished villages in China and eliminate the dangers in river-crossing. This makes it more convenient for villagers to travel around and improves their livelihood.