How did that get past health and safety! Hong Kong's ultra-modern skyscrapers are built with scaffolding made out of BAMBOO



The gleaming skyscrapers of Hong Kong rise higher than most, yet they are built with the help of the most traditional of scaffolding.

The constructions may be ultra-modern but the bamboo structures which help erect them have been around for centuries.

Skilled workers build the scaffolding around buildings up to 1,000ft above the ground.

All covered up: A tower block clad in bamboo scaffolding and nylon gauze in Hong Kong, China

Old school: Construction workers in Hong Kong still use traditional bamboo to build scaffolding covering 21st century buildings

Using few safety restraints, they rig up to 1,000 square feet of scaffolding in a day, which they then cover in colourful nylon fabrics.

The scaffolders, known locally as taap pang, use using as much as 215,000 square feet of bamboo for larger constructions.

On average a skilled scaffolder can earn around $HK1,400 (£120) a day.

They shun modern methods simply using 23-foot bamboo poles and plastic ties to fix the scaffolding in place, before covering them in nylon gauze.

High climber: The workers are known locally as 'taap pang' and can get through 215,000 sq ft of bamboo a day

The taap pang workers build the bamboo scaffodling before 'dressing' it in colourful protective fabric

Blue dreams: The bright nylon gauze covers the traditional bamboo scaffolding at a building site in Hong Kong American photographer Peter Steinhauer, who has lived in Asia since 1993, spent four years documenting the incredible structures rising above the dense city. The profession is believed to date back around 1,500 years - but has surged in popularity in modern times thanks to bamboo poles being 30 per cent cheaper than metal ones. Only around 30-50 new bamboo scaffolders sign up each year due to the industries notorious reputation for poor working conditions thanks to the sweltering heat and frequent tropical rainstorms.

Quick and daring: Skilled scaffolders can rig up to 1,000 square feet in a day using 23-foot bamboo poles and plastic ties to fix the scaffolding in place

Big plans: A building project in central Hong Kong is lit up at night, left, and workers use the scaffodling when covering another in a giant Calvin Klein advert, right

