Project Summary

  • Client: International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)
  • Geographic Coverage: Godavari
  • Project Duration: 4 months
  • Total Area: 1248 Sq ft

Bamboo Cowshed at ICIMOD Godavari

The Bamboo Cowshed was constructed at ICIMOD Godavari Knowledge Park using bamboo. The objective of the cowshed was for the rare species of cow called SHREE breed found in the high altitudes of Nepal and Bhutan. There were a total of 5 cows, 4 female and 1 male.

The design, application, and use were provided by the ICIMOD technical team in joint coordination with the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC). The total dimension of the cowshed was 48 ft in length and 26 ft in width, with a total area of 1248 sq ft. The area consists of a sandpit area, feeding area, drainage for urinal and cow dung, drinking water area, and storage area.

On 14 March 2022, an agreement was made between GBC and ICIMOD for the construction of the cowshed as per the provided design.

For the land uniformity for construction, we did landscaping, constructed a retention wall, and performed cutting and filling of the land. In order to connect the plinth level and bamboo, we used 4” PVC pipe to protect the bamboo from cow dung and urine due to its acidic nature. We used 2 species of bamboo, Bambusa Balcooa as a structural component and Bambusa Nutan as a roofing component.

The overall construction project was handled by our bamboo engineer, Mr. Krishna Aryal, using local manpower from the nearby community. Since all the raw materials, including sand, cement, stone, and bamboo, needed to be transported using human resources by carrying it 300 meters uphill, and since it was inside a dense forest with regular rainfall, this project was more challenging. This project was jointly completed with coordination from Mohan Shrestha Sir and Nagendra Bajracharya Sir from ICIMOD.

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