Most Frequently Asked Questions about Gabions

Gabions offer a wide variety of uses. This article will discuss the most frequently asked questions about gabions, how they are made, the benefits, and more.

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How Are Gabions Used?

Retention Walls

Gabions are often employed as retention walls to prevent sediment from entering water bodies and to protect streams from erosion. They can also be installed in front of retaining walls to strengthen barriers against collapse during wet conditions.

Erosion Prevention

Gabions act as barriers to control erosion on sloping sites. They prevent soil from being washed down by water or wind, thereby minimizing the damage to buildings and property on hillsides.

Flooding Prevention

In times of flooding, gabions can help contain floodwater by providing structural support around riverbanks.

Reinforcing Roads

Gabions are used for road rehabilitation and reinforcement. Filled with rocks and covered with compacted soil, they provide a stable and level surface.

Good for Drainage

Gabions are increasingly used in ecological engineering to maintain clear channels, ensuring free water flow — crucial considering climate change and rising pollution levels.

How are Gabions Made?

Gabions are typically constructed with reinforced wire cages filled with gravel, sand, or crushed rock. The wire mesh spacing creates storage chambers for filler materials, preventing the growth of weeds and unwanted plants that can clog these spaces over time.

What Are The Advantages Of Gabions?

Gabions offer numerous benefits that go beyond convenience and cost-effectiveness. Here are some key advantages:

Easy To Install

Gabions are straightforward to install, requiring only basic tools and minimal effort, without the need for specialized skills or heavy machinery.

Low Cost

Gabions are cost-effective, requiring minimal construction effort and maintenance costs.

Speed of Construction

Gabions can be quickly installed in various locations, making them faster to construct compared to traditional walls.

Versatile

Gabions can be used as retaining walls, buttresses, fences, revetments, and even garden accessories.

Environmentally Friendly

Made from recycled steel, gabions are an eco-friendly choice, and any unused parts can be recycled.

Resilient and Durable

Gabions can withstand earthquake tremors and floods, ensuring long-lasting durability.

Robust

With a tensile strength approximately 150 times that of concrete, gabions are incredibly strong barriers.

Convenient

There's no need for extensive preparation like cutting down tree trunks or bulldozing; gabions can be easily erected.

Sustainable

Gabions are designed to be highly sustainable and reusable, making them cost-effective for both short-term and long-term applications. They also have a much lower CO2 emission footprint compared to concrete walls.

Permeable

Gabions are permeable, making them an excellent option for drainage.

Safety

Being made from recycled steel, gabions pose no safety risks when used as barriers against walls.

Aesthetic

Gabions offer a modular design that allows multiple shapes and configurations, popular among landscape architects.

What Is The Price Of Gabions?

Gabions are relatively inexpensive. Quality gabions typically cost around $30-40. Depending on the size and scale of your project, expect costs to vary, especially for larger uses, which may run into a few hundred dollars.

How Long Will a Gabion Last?

Gabion baskets come in two types: woven and galvanized. Woven baskets made from 2.7mm wire are more affordable but have a shorter lifespan than galvanized ones made from 4mm wire. On average, gabions last between 50-100 years.

How Much Do They Cost To Build?

The cost of building a gabion wall is influenced by several factors:

Size and Scale

Larger walls require more materials and labor, increasing construction costs.

Wall Location

Constructing wall in complex locations or near water tables may increase costs.

Type of Soil

The soil type dictates the materials required for construction, influencing costs.

Design

The height, width, and slope of the wall directly impact material and labor costs.

Types of Stones Applied

The cost is also affected by the type of stones used, with more expensive stones increasing the cost of installation.

Overall, standard steel mesh costs around $35 per meter, but regional variations may offer discounts.

What Type of Rocks to Use?

Various types of rocks are suitable for gabions:

Granite

Durable and heat-resistant, granite is a popular choice for gabions.

Basalt

Basalt’s porosity makes it suitable for dams and ditches, owing to its water-permeability.

Slate

Dense and waterproof, slate is ideal for constructing cisterns and reservoirs.

Sandstone

Rugged and durable, sandstone is excellent for constructing structural support.

Rustic

Rustic rocks hold shape well and have a pleasing natural appearance.

Limestone

Limestone’s smooth texture makes it ideal for gabion baskets and landscaping.

Ironstone

Highly durable and economical, ironstone is a common choice for gabions.

Select rocks larger than the gabion cage openings to prevent them from falling out. Consulting a local landscape expert is advisable to select suitable rocks for your area.

Do Gabions Wall Need Foundation?

Typically, gabion walls do not need a foundation. However, lighter soils may require some surface work to maintain stability. It’s best to consult an engineer for appropriate construction design.

How Are Gabion Baskets Installed?

Gabion baskets require solid installation to prevent toppling. Ensure the soil can support the structure, particularly for large gabion walls. Installing a wider wall and support columns can offer additional stability. Fill the baskets with rocks, and the result is a durable wall.

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Ensure the soil supports your structure, especially for backyard installations. Heavy soil can generally support gabions, but lighter soil may need additional work. A wider wall can help sustain the structure and alleviate pressure from the soil. Install support columns in designated areas, build the baskets around them, and fill them with rocks. This process ensures a sturdy wall that will last long.

Also, install some support columns along the area you want to put the wall. Then build the baskets around them and fill the mesh up with rocks. The result is a sturdy wall that won’t collapse for an extended period.

How Can You Pack Rocks Into Your Gabion Basket?

Filling a gabion basket is straightforward. But it is not all about filling; you also want to ensure your gabion looks excellent. A well-constructed gabion is not just a structure, it is also a gabion that you can admire. How to fill your gabion basket depends on the type of rocks available. There are three types of rocks available; tiny pebbles, chunks, and flat round rocks.

The first and essential step is selecting nice-looking rocks. These include rocks with the same color, similar shape, or ones that flatter. In other words, pick rocks that look about the same. Then create a layer of rocks beneath your gabion basket. Ensure it is flat, looks excellent, and is stable before you proceed to another layer. Put chunk rocks in the middle because people won’t notice them. Lay smaller pebbles in between them. Ensure they are packed tight and pleasant. Finally, ensure your gabion appears as uniform as possible.

How High Can You Build A Gabion Wall?

There is no limit to the height you can build your gabion wall. It can rise higher than you want. Your gabion wall can stand as high as 30 feet if built correctly. However, you will want to make it wider to support the wall’s height without sacrificing stability. Consult your landscape expert for the best height suitable for your garden or yard.

Can the gabion wall be used as a seat?

Yes. However, the comfort of the wall depends on the materials you fill it with. All in all, gabions can make an ideal seat. Gabions are heavy and durable. That means they are impossible to damage by sitting or standing on them. As long as the mesh holds them together, gabions can serve this purpose more than you can imagine.

There are many hardscaping elements that can be added to a landscape design that are both attractive and functional.

One example of this is the gabion wall. Gabion walls can be used in landscapes as retaining walls, decorative site walls, seating walls, accent walls and more.

Randy Jurgensen, president of Decorative Stone Solutions, based in Escondido, California, says gabion walls are well suited for mid-century modern designs as they tend to be more linear in shape and it’s harder to make organic shapes with gabions.

This hardscape structure has seen an increase in usage over the past few years and here’s what you should know if you are considering using one in your next landscaping project.

What is a gabion wall?

Gabion is derived from the Italian word for “cage” and is a wire container that can hold any sort of inorganic material. They can form flexible, permeable structures that work well in stabilizing shorelines against erosion.

Originally these cages were wicker and were commonly used for civil engineering and military purposes. Leonardo da Vinci even used gabions for the foundation of the San Marco Castle in Milan.

Gabions should not be confused with bastions, which are gabions lined typically with a geotextile allowing it to be filled with a granular soil fill, instead of rocks.

Pros and cons of gabion walls

“I think the big pros are they’re economic, they have little to no maintenance, they’re easy to install and they are very long lasting, and they can be created fairly quickly,” says Jurgensen.

The cost of the wall depends on the wire being used as there are various grades and gauges of wire mesh available, but they are typically all galvanized. The other determining factor on the cost is the fill material being used.

Angular rock is the best gabion fill as they lock together and provide a non-moving unit. Jurgensen suggests using a heavier gauge wire if your customer wants to use a rounded river rock as the fill material to help it maintain its shape.

Jurgensen says unskilled laborers can easily learn to erect, fill and close the wire baskets properly.

“Pilings, underwater drainage systems and excavations are unnecessary,” he says. “There’s no need to drain the site or to construct a cofferdam for underwater installation. The first layer of gabions can be laid in water or in mud.”

Jurgensen says there’s no need to create a foundation for gabion walls as they end up weighing so much when you fill them with rock. He says what anchors the wall is the sheer mass and weight of the structure. The longer it’s there, the more it settles in and the stronger it becomes.

Any gabion wall 3 feet and under does not require the calculation of loads and stress it might take on, but Jurgensen says if you’re going higher than 3 feet you should get an engineer involved to make sure it’s safely constructed.

A gabion wall’s lifespan depends on the type of wire used and the amount of salt spray it is exposed to.

“Something that is very coastal tends to rust out like any metal a little quicker,” Jurgensen says. “The further inland you go the longer these tend to last but 50 to 100 years is the typical lifespan.”

Gabion walls are highly permeable and are able to bleed off any hydrostatic pressure, eliminating the need to install a drainage system.

Unlike a traditional concrete wall, gabion walls are flexible and are able to move with the earth.

“Let’s say you’re in an area where you have a freeze thaw cycle and the earth rises and sinks as you go through these freeze thaw cycles,” Jurgensen says. “This has the ability to move with it so you don’t have a breakdown, where in concrete walls you’re going to get cracking and eventually collapsing under foundation and internal stresses of movement.”

Some of the cons are typically gabions are too bulky for smaller spaces and they may provide a home for unwanted flora and fauna.

“One of the drawbacks, and pro depending on what you’re after, is a lot of windblown and water-carried debris and soil can end up in all the crevices inside the wall so you can actually end up with some vegetation growing in these walls. Some people like that and other people don’t want to see that.”

Another possible con is the industrial look of the gabion wall, which Jurgensen says some like and others prefer a more natural looking wall. He says one way to make these walls more attractive is to choose a good fill material.

“The more attractive stone you use, the better it’s going to look overall,” he says. “There’s a couple ways to fill these gabions. You can use a very good looking stone as the facing material so that’s what’s actually showing to the viewer and then you can backfill that with a less expensive, more industrial grade stone that’s not going to be visible but still acts a structural component of the gabion wall.”

The fill material can vary from logs to broken concrete to slag glass.

“You’ll see various types of landscape glass, big chunks of colored glass, being used that makes a pretty neat design both during the day and night,” Jurgensen says. “The neat thing about filling it with something like a glass product is you can use lighting inside, so you can run lighting inside of a gabion wall behind the glass, and then that can be lit up at night.”

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