A nimble team of bamboo scaffolders defied gravity – and safety regulations – when picking apart one of Causeway Bay’s famous overhanging street signs earlier today. Photographs taken at the scene showed the group of four workmen moving deftly and completely unencumbered as they dismantled the display above cosmetics chain store Bonjour on Kai Chiu road. Hong Kong is one of the few remaining developed cities to still use bamboo in construction projects and government regulations require workmen to wear safety belts and remain attached to a secure anchorage while on the skeleton frame. However, the fluid nature of the job often makes such rules impractical, with scaffolders instead preferring to hook their legs on the bamboo as a form of anchor. In Hong Kong, more than five million bamboo rods, each six to seven metres long, are used by the construction industry every year. The material is lightweight and flexible, which allows scaffolds to be set up and taken down far quicker than steel.
