Woven Mesh Gabion Baskets Description
Woven Mesh Gabion Baskets or Gabion Cages and mattresses are purpose designed stone filled wire mesh baskets or cages for use as retaining structures. They are also sometimes referred to as just stone filled bastions, stone cages or baskets. Gabion baskets are an economical, environmental and established solution for structural retaining walls and coastal defences. Designed like for like, gabions are hard to beat on cost and aesthetics when compared to other established retaining wall systems such as reinforced concrete and masonry. This is particularly so for low to medium height retaining walls.
Woven mesh gabion baskets are nowadays usually refered to as the traditional gabion. They have been in use for retaining wall construction for a long time and is a tried and tested retaining solution. You may also wish to consider our range of Welded Mesh Gabions (Click for info).
Baskets are manufactured from a triple twist chain link hexagonal woven wire mesh. The triple twisting prevents unravelling in the event of some wires getting cut or damaged.
The pliability and flexibility of the woven mesh makes it extremely flexible and tough and the ideal solution for civil engineering applications typically on poor or uneven ground, where some deformation of the basket is required or expected. The resulting wall also tends to look more natural, giving it a dry stone wall effect. As a result it particularly suits retaining wall applications for river training and coastal defence applications.
Woven Mesh Gabion retaining walls can be designed using the traditional gravity retaining wall concept, or alternatively, they can also be used as the facing element for reinforced earth retaining structures.
Gabion Baskets Wire Diameter and Coating Options
We offer a wide range of Woven Mesh Gabion baskets for sale. Cages are supplied flat packed and then laced together on site to form the required retaining wall. Prefilled baskets are available on special request. It is recommended that they be filled insitu whenever possible.
Woven mesh gabion baskets and mattresses are available with a choice of different wire coatings. Standard coatings are HDG (Hot Dip Galvanised), Alu-Zinc (95% Zn + 5% Al) coated or PVC coated. Alu-Zinc coated baskets are often mistaken for galvanised ones as they look similar but can actually last up to 3-4 times longer under similar exposure conditions. PVC coated cages on the other hand can have a design life expectancy of up to 120 years, depending on exposure conditions. PVC coated baskets should be considered for longer service life requirements and for application near the sea, river or locations where exposure to corrosive chemicals, acids and salts is possible.PVC coated baskets are usually supplied with a grey PVC coating as standard but other colours are available to special order.
Standard wire diameter is 2.7mm, while 2.0mm and 2.4mm are available for certain mesh size combinations. Minimum thickness of PVC coating for woven gabions is 0.5mm.
Mesh Size Options
Options are also available with mesh size. The most common mesh size is 80mmx100mm for gabions and 60mmx80mm for mattresses. 100mmx120mm is also available to special order.
Gabion Basket Sizes
Gabion Cages are available in range of sizes in half metre steps with the 2x1x1m gabion cage being the most common size. Other common sizes are 1.5x1x1m, 1x1x1m, 2x1x0.5m, 1x1x1m etc. Larger sizes such as 3x1x1m and 4x1x1m are also available to special order. Smaller landscaping sizes such as 2×0.5×0.5m are also available. Sizes are always denoted in Length x Width x Height where the third dimension is always the vertical height.
Woven Mesh Gabions are also available as Mattresses. Mattresses are available 3x2m or 6x2m in plan and 0.17m, 0.23m 0.3m or 0.5m thick. Mattresses are typically used for erosion control and scour protection.
Typical Applications
- Retaining wall structures
- River and canal training works
- Erosion and scour protection; roadway protection; bridge protection
- Hydraulic structures, dams and culverts
- Coastal defence and protection works
- Rockfall and soil erosion protection
For peace of mind, our woven mesh gabion baskets have BBA approval Certificate numbers 00/3682 and 99/R117.
For more information on our range of Woven Gabions, please click on the appropriate pdf download link below.
Click here to download and view our Woven Mesh Gabion Brochure (PDF)
Click here to download and view our installation guide (PDF)
Give us a call and our experienced Engineers will be more than happy to advice and review your requirements with you.