Whether used for reinforcing slopes, stabilizing channels, or enhancing landscapes, gabions provide a reliable, adaptable, and cost-effective solution, delivering significant value over time and ensuring effective management of environmental challenges.
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What are Gabions?Applied in various engineering and landscaping applications, Gabions typically assume the form of a basket or mattress filled with rocks, bound by a sturdy wire mesh to provide support and stabilization.
Why are Gabions used?Due to their strength, durability, and ability to confine aggregate to a fixed geometry, Gabions are used for erosion, retaining walls, and landscaping applications. Their weight and stability make them great for waterway management and infrastructure protection.
How do Gabions work?Permeable and resilient, Gabions provide a technology that can withstand high-velocity water flow, soil movement, and erosion, making them ideal for stabilizing slopes and channels. The wire mesh prevents washout, or any threat of aggregate migrating outside the gabion, and the baskets can be connected to heighten the overall system's performance further.
What are the benefits of Gabions?Made from corrosion-resistant wire and filled with rocks, Gabions can withstand harsh environmental conditions for years, making them a cost-effective solution in the long run. Their ability to conform to ground movement without losing their structural integrity and permeability helps reduce pressure on the structure, preventing waterlogging and erosion.
What are the best applications for Gabions?Ideal for applications that require erosion control, slope stabilization, and waterway management, Gabion's ability to absorb and dissipate the energy of flowing water makes it highly effective in preventing the erosion of soil and riverbanks. For slope stabilization, gabions act as retaining walls that support and stabilize loose soil or rock, preventing landslides and soil erosion, especially in areas prone to heavy rain or seismic activity.
Are Gabions easy to install?One of the key advantages of gabions is that they do not require any specialized equipment or skills for installation. This ease of assembly and flexibility in material sourcing make gabions a practical option for remote or difficult-to-access locations, making Gabions relatively easy to install. Reference one of our manufacturer partner's installation guides (hyperlink) and contact a GEO Pro for further installation support.
Are Gabions difficult to maintain?Once installed, gabions do not require regular upkeep and are generally low-maintenance, but periodic inspections and minor repairs can be necessary to ensure their continued effectiveness and longevity.
What is the lifetime value of Gabions?The lifetime value of gabions is generally quite high, making them a cost-effective solution for many long-term applications. Typically, gabions can last between 10 to 25 years, and sometimes even longer, depending on the environmental conditions and the materials' quality. Regular maintenance and inspections can help identify and address any issues, such as corrosion or structural weakness, thereby extending their service life.
Using Gabions for Slopes and Channels.Using gabions for slope stabilization is a practical and effective method for controlling erosion and reinforcing slopes. Gabions are wire mesh containers filled with rock, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil. Here's a step-by-step guide to using gabions for slopes:
1. Site Assessment and Preparation:
A. Assess the Slope and evaluate for stability, soil type, and drainage patterns.
B. Clear the Area: Remove any debris, vegetation, or obstacles from the slope.
2. Design Layout:
A. Plan the layout of the gabions, considering the slope's contour and the necessary height and depth of the gabions.
3. Foundation Preparation:
A. Prepare a foundation at the base of the slope. This may involve excavation or filling to ensure a stable and level surface.
B. In some cases, laying a geotextile fabric on the foundation can help drainage and prevent soil from moving into the gabions. Depending on the criticality of the application, baskets may need to be buried to ensure an adequate base and mitigate the threat of erosion at the toe of the system.
4. Assembly of Gabions:
A. Assemble the wire mesh gabion baskets on the prepared foundation. Ensure they are properly secured and tied together.
B. Fill the gabion baskets with rock, ensuring the rocks are tightly packed. The rock size should be significant enough not to pass through the mesh.
5. Placement and Stacking:
A. Place the filled gabions carefully onto the slope. Stack them in an offset pattern for added stability.
6. Secure Stacking:
A. Tie adjacent gabions together using heavy-duty wire or steel rings to keep them in place and act as a stable unit.
7. Backfilling and Drainage:
A. In some cases, backfilling behind the gabions with soil or gravel can provide additional stability.
B. Establish adequate drainage behind the gabion wall to prevent water pressure build-up.
8. Vegetation and Aesthetics (Optional):
A. Plant vegetation on or around the gabions for aesthetic purposes and additional slope stability.
9. Inspection and Maintenance:
A. Periodically inspect the gabion structures for any signs of displacement, bulging, or wire damage.
B. Perform any necessary repairs promptly to maintain the integrity of the gabion structure.
Offering a cost-effective solution for erosion control and stabilization, Gabions offers a low initial cost, minimal maintenance requirements, and long-term durability, delivering significant savings.
ConclusionGabions are an efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly solution for various erosion control, slope stabilization, and waterway management applications. Their ease of installation, requiring no specialized equipment or skills, makes them a practical choice for various project locations, including remote or difficult-to-access areas. Once installed, gabions require minimal maintenance, yet their longevity and effectiveness remain high, with a typical lifespan ranging from 10 to 25 years, depending on environmental conditions and material quality. Their cost-effectiveness is further highlighted by their low initial cost, minimal maintenance requirements, and long-lasting durability, making them a wise investment for long-term applications.
Identify how you can accomplish your slope and channel projects at a lower cost.Regardless of your project's lifecycle stage, our team boasts expertise across every phase. Whether design, specification, field installation or even post-construction support, GeoSolutions is prepared to assist you. Take a minute to share your project specs or any specific challenges you are facing.
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Getting gabion wall design right can be tricky and if you are wondering how to build one, you are certainly not alone. Over the past five years, our practice has seen an explosion in the use of gabions within residential projects, where once they were a more common sight in commercial applications.
I think the rise in the popularity of gabions in terms of garden wall ideas is mostly down to their versatility, relatively low cost and the fact that they are fairly easy to install. So how are they used in domestic construction?
Here, we take a look at exactly what a gabion wall is, where they can come in handy and how to design and build one.
At its simplest, a gabion wall (from the Italian term gabbione meaning ‘big cage’) is a modular containment system — typically referred to as a cage or basket — made from a wire mesh and filled with rock. The cage element is constructed most commonly as a square, rectangular or trapezoidal.
There are two main types of gabion wall construction — those built to meet the retaining wall ideas of those after something for structural purposes and those built for shallower retaining walls that only need to hold back a very small amount of soil. Gabions can also be used for decorative landscaping, too.
Here we take a look at the various different types of gabion walls and how they are constructed.
Walls that are only retaining a small amount of garden ground (i.e. 1m and below), can be laid in one row and linked with lacing wire.
Because there is a lot less ground to retain, the specification and therefore cost and complexity of installing a gabion wall is significantly decreased. There are also more options to use any type of stone, as this is more of a decorative application.
Other decorative applications for gabion walls include raised flower beds and planters, tables and patio seating, internal feature walls, privacy screening or as fencing and hard landscaping.
This all depends on the style of your house and the kind of garden you have, or are trying to create — those after sunken garden ideas very often use gabion walls in the design.
Aesthetically, the filled cages provide a raw, natural and rustic structure that can be left exposed to show the rock in situ. Ideally the type, colour and size of the rock will be matched to the colour palette of the main house or as part of a wider hard and soft landscaping scheme.
You can also change the look of the wall configuration by going from a battered sloping wall to a stepped-back front. A battered retaining wall will lean back towards the surface it is retaining — this can be done by slightly staggering or leaning the cages. A stepped retaining wall is easier to build as you’re simply stacking cages on top of each other at a larger distance. A battered wall has more retaining capacity than stepped.
The original use for gabions is in large civil construction projects as gravity retaining walls, such as at the side of a motorway, retaining the sloping banking above.They can be used domestically when building a house into a sloping site, for example.
In this application numerous cages are laid side by side and stacked up (in an overlapping layout), these are internally braced and laced together. They are filled with angular stones with known structural properties, compacted and then back filled with suitable infill material, such as a well-graded granular material.
Note that as the height of the wall increases, the foundation depth also has to increase, so a wall as high as 5m may be as deep as 2.8m at its base. To aid stability the walls are usually sloped backwards at 6–10 degrees from the vertical. If you are opting for a structural retaining wall, you must inform a structural or civil engineer, who will review soil investigation studies and design the retaining wall to suit
the bearing capacity of the ground and the stability of the slope being retained.
Engineers will design a gabion retaining wall with similar principles used in concrete block walls. However, gabion walls need much more volume to make up the difference between the mass of stone versus concrete.
As discussed, the height of the wall and stability of the ground that is being retained is vital in your calculations. In addition, the location, and exposure will impact the size and type of wire used in the basket. Typically, these come in 3mm, 4mm and 5mm gauges, with the larger being used for coastal locations and civil structures.
The material needed to fill a structural gabion should be:
When used as a decorative or non-structural feature, it is fine for homeowners to buy the baskets and infill stones, then complete the install themselves. Most suppliers will provide enough information for competent DIYers to follow.
However, if the gabion is being used to retain more than 1m of soil, then I would suggest leaving this to a groundworks contractor.
If you’re uncertain about ground conditions, please seek the advice of an engineer before starting.
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