GABION

STRUCTURES
 GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT
GABION
• The word “GABION” is taken from
Italian word gabbione which means
big cage
• It is a wire mesh cage or basket filled
with stones
• The Gabion is generally a wire mesh
and when it is filled with stones, it is
called as a GABION Structure
 DEFINITION OF
GABION
• A Gabion is a cage, cylinder, or box filled
with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand
and soil for use in civil engineering, road
building, military applications and
landscaping
• The filling material such as stone has size
greater than the mesh opening of Gabion
 HISTORY

• The very early use of gabions was by the

Chinese who made baskets that were
rock-filled for the protection of structures
against scour
• Leonardo de Vinci designed a type of
gabion called a Corbeille Leonard for the
foundations of San Marco Castle in Milan
 CHARACTERISTICS
• Environment Friendly
• Flexible
• Permeable
• Cost effective and easy to build
• Instant Protection
• Simple Design
 TYPES OF GABIONS

GABIONS

WELDED
WOVEN MESH
MESH
GABIONS
GABIONS
 WELDED MESH
GABIONS
• Manufactured normally from a square
mesh
• Opening Size ( 76.2 * 76.2 )mm
• The wire diameter vary according to
application
• The flexibility of this type of gabion
depend upon wire diameter
 WOVEN MESH GABION

• Manufactured from mesh with hexagonal

opening
• Formed by twisting pairs of wire
together with one and half turns
• Mesh production is continuous
• Normally manufactured from 2.7mm
wire diameter
• The dimension between twists is 80mm
LATEST TYPES OF GABIONS
• Gabion Baskets
• Gabion Mattress
• Gabion Sack
• Gabion Wire Mesh
• Decorative Gabion
Elements
 DESIGN OF GABION
STRUCTURES
INITIAL DATA FOR THE DESIGN
• Analysis of slope of natural and artificial slopes
• Determining the Forces acting
• Climatic condition of Area
• Topography
• Location of Building Materials
 DESIGN OF GABION
STRUCTURES
REQUIREMENTS OF THE DESIGN
• Calculations of the loads to be acting
• Location, Layout and Type of Gabion Structure
• Limit the average flow velocity to 5.5 m/s
• Calculation of stability of natural slopes
• Porosity of stone material should be between 0.25-0.35
CONSTRUCTION OF GABION
STRUCTURES
MATERIALS REQUIRED:

• Galvanized Wire
• Hexagonal triple twisted mesh in
the size ranging from 7.5to15cm
• Wire no-8 gauge, less than10
gauge is not used
CONSTRUCTION STEPS OF GABIONS

• Assemble each gabion unit by

binding there vertical edges with
the help of about 12-15 cm long
wire ties. It is good to make 5 ties
per metre height
 CONTD…

• As per plane place, few empty

unit on position and tie them
with the adjacent boxes, using at
least 5 wire per metre
 CONTD…

• With the help of standard fence

stretcher, stretch the box before
filling the stones, to provide
effective alignment after they are
tied together
 CONTD…

• Fill the rocks into stretched boxes

and also insert connecting wires in
each cell. When the box is filled by
its 1/3 portion, the first four wires,
two in each direction in each cell are
placed. Repeat the procedure until the
box is filled by its 2/3rd portion
 CONTD…

• When filling operation of stones

to construct the gabion boxes has
been completed ,then tie the lid
from sides and the end portions. A
half meter long ‘pinch bar ’can be
used.
 COMPUTATION OF CONSTRUCTION COST OF
GABION
PARAMETER CONSIDERED
• size of gabion box (length, width and
depth) • cost of mesh construction (₹/kg)

• capacity of box (m³)

• labour charge per box including
construction cost of wire mesh
• area of wire mesh in each gabion (m²)

• density of wire used (kg/m³) • cost of rock filling (₹/m³)

 COMPUTATION PROCEDURE

STEP 1: Find out the area of mesh involved in each gabion box

STEP 2 : Calculate the weight of wire needed per box. it is given as

weight = density of wire * area of mesh in each box

STEP 3 : Calculate cost per box. it is obtained as:

weigh of box * cost
 CONTD…
STEP 4 : Estimate labour charge per box including construction cost
of wire mesh, which is computed as:
labour charge * area of wire mesh of one gabion box

STEP 5 : Compute the cost of rock filling per 100 m³ .It is given as cost
of rock filing * capacity of gabion

STEP 6 : Find the total cost of construction which is the sum of

Step 3, Step 4, Step 5
ADVANTAGES OF GABIONS

• Durable
• Permanent
• Easy to
construct
• Economical
 APPLICATIONS OF GABIONS
• Landscaping and Architecture
• Channel Linings
Elements
• Headwalls
• Culvert Outlets • Rockfill Mitigation Netting

• Drop Structures or Weirs • Revetments

• Gravity Walls
• Energy Dissipators
• MSE Walls
• Flexible Aprons
 CHANNEL
LININGS
• They are commonly rectangular or
trapezoidal
• Trapezoidal Channels are sloped by
gabion mattress
• Rectangular Channels have vertical sides
made up of gabions
• Channel bottom can be fully or partially
protected by gabions
• Provided for the protection against
erosion
 HEADWALLS
• Improve the flow of water out of
the conduits
• Providing anchorage to the pipe
• Control erosion and scour
• Used in limited space or poor soil
conditions
• Used to withstand or relieve soil and
hydrostatic pressures
 DROP STRUCTURES OR WEIRS
• They are small dams placed across
waterway
• Used for providing changes in
gradient and velocity
• Withstand hydraulic pressure and
prevent outflanking
• Normally seen as vertical structures
• Sloped Weirs are used where bearing
capacity of soil is low
GRAVITY WALLS

• Rely on their significant mass and

geometry
• Designed with 6 degree batter from
vertical
• Filled with locally available graded stone
or with crushed concrete
• Constructed by stones that would
revegetate
 REVETMENTS
• Protect banks by absorbing energy of
upcoming waves
• Build to preserve existing uses of
shoreline
• Used to protect land behind it
• Gabion rock fill provide resistance to
water flow
• Should have appropriate height, width and
toe protection
 LIMITATIONS
• Site Condition
• Availability of Materials and
Equipment
• Availability of Manpower
• Aesthetics
• Maintenance
 CASE STUDY

GABION RETAINING WALL FOR EMBANKMENT

D.P. ROAD, NASHIK
MAHARASHTRA, INDIA
 PROBLEM
• Construction of Gabion Retaining Wall for
embankment of road on the left bank of
river Godavari
• Banks were subjected to severe scouring due
to heavy flow of water
• Soil strata was soft clay and hence the
stratum was weak
• Difficult to construct heavy structures
 SOLUTION
• About 17000 cum of Gabion Walls were constructed
• Reno Mattress was used as an apron to prevent scouring

REASONS FOR SELECTING SOLUTIONS

• COST-EFFECTIVENESS • SPEED
• VERSTAILITY • DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY
 CONCLUDING REMARKS

• A cost analysis was done and it was seen that about 70% cost effectiveness
has achieved by the adoption of Gabion-Mattress solution instead of the
concrete
• The success of this structure gave a lot of confidence to the Construction
Industry in Maharashtra especially in Nashik to adopt Gabion flexible
structures for black cotton soil
COMPLETED STRUCTURE STRUCTURE AFTER 10 YEARS