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In this paper an alternative method to evaluate the geometric properties of the cross section of bamboo culms is presented, which are necessary to obtain the mechanical properties of this material subjected to bending tests. The standard test methods recommend calculating the second moment of area for a cross section of bamboo culms with the average diameter of the specimen, measuring two cross sections near of load points. But the section irregularities of culms yield errors of up to 10%. In this paper a procedure is presented to make a numerical integration using Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. Basically the procedure proposes to obtain a scanned image of the cross sectional area and then to digitalize it for use with the CAD software and carry out the numerical integration to get the moment of inertia. Using this method the errors are reduced to around 0,011%. Another possible source of error is analyzed when the MOE is calculated using the deflection values measured at mid-span, instead of the maximum value which occurs outside of this point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]