Gabions and Mattresses
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Rivers End Residential Development in Pietermaritzburg – KZN
Gabion structure – a tilted retaining wall to stabalise an embankment supporting the entrance road to the estate. The wall reached a height of 6m in places and extended for a length of 60 meters. Galvanised units of 4X1X1, 3X1X1 and 2X1X1 were used in this construction. Stedone’s, Patrick Isaac’s, managed the installation which was designed by Mark Du Casse of Du Casse and Assoc.
Balvedale Woods Residential development in Cowies Hill – KZN
Embankment toe support at the project basin which is ajacent to a stream
A cascaded water course which controls storm water runoff to the side of the site
Another cascaded water course which controls and diverts stormwater runoff to the side of the property
Gabion and mattress structure forming a canal water course
Gabion Baskets
Specifications
Our baskets are made from Class A galvanized mild tensile steel wire in accordance with the SANS 675 specification. The baskets and mattresses are manufactured in strict accordance with the SANS 1580 and site installations are also in accordance with the latest SANS 1200 specification.
Gabions
Our mesh is hexagonal in shape meeting with the 80×100 mm mesh aperture for gabions with a mesh wire diameter of 2.7mm and selvedge wire of 3.4mm diameter. Contact us also for welded mesh gabion material as well.
River Mattresses
Mattresses also have a hexagonal mesh spec. of 80×100mm with 2.5mm mesh wire and 3.0mm selvage wire diameter. All gabions and mattresses use a 2.20mm wire diameter lacing wire which is supplied with the baskets and used to lace together the mesh panels during the erection process.
Mattresses and gabion baskets are also available with a 0.5mm nominal thickness P.V.C. coating to enhance the resistance of the baskets to corrosion of the wire mesh. This provides a overall increase in diameter of 1mm to all wires used in the manufacturing process.
Standard Sizes
The sizes offered are shown below together with their volumes, we can make other sizes where required or necessary.
Gabion Baskets
All measurements are in metres, (length x width x height)
1×1×1 – 1m³
2×1×1 – 2m³
3×1×1 – 3m³
4×1×1 – 4m³
2×1×0.5 – 1m³
3×1×0.5 – 1.5m³
4×1×0.5 – 2m³
6×2×0.5 – 6m³
1.5×1×1 – 1.5m³
2×0.5×0.5 – 0.5m³
River Mattresses
2×1×0.3 – 0.6m³
3×1×0.3 – 0.9m³
4×1×0.3 – 1.2m³
6×2×0.17 – 2.04m³
6×2×0.23 – 2.76m³
6×2×0.30 – 3.60m³
Rock Specification
In accordance with SANS 1200, the rock must be unweathered, and can be tested for it’s suitability using the weathering or durability tests. The rock size should meet the following requirements;
Gabion baskets
Use 80×100mm hexagonal mesh
Min. 100-250mm Maximum size
River Mattresses
Use 80×100mm hexagonal mesh
Min. 100mm-2/3 of mattress depth
A minimum density of 2.6ton/m3 is required – normally allow 1.5tons of rock per 1m3 of gabion and approximately 20% for wastage or fines depending on the quality of supply from the commercial rock source(quarry).
Applications
Gabions have been around for over a hundred years internationally and have a wide range of uses, new ones are continually being found. We have listed below the most common ones used up till now for your information. Kindly contact us for any information or design assistance you may need related to any of the applications listed below. We look forward to hearing from you about new ones you might have been exposed to.
- Mass-Gravity Retaining Walls
- Skin-reventment Walls
- Re-inforced Soil Walls
- Terrace walls
- River canal lining
- River training structures
- Gabion Weirs
- Dam embankment protection structures
- Roadway culvert in or outlet structures
- Low-level or Irish crossings
- Longitudinal river structures
- Biofilters(Sewage Plants)
- Hydrochambers(Water storage)
- Rockfall mesh netting
- River diversion structures
- Mine primary crusher walls
- Architectural applications
- Bridge abutment protection.
- Sound Barriers
Advantages of using Gabions :
- Simple to install – Using unskilled labour.
- Environmentally acceptable – The use of local rock and soils for backfill is encouraged, with the subsequent growth of vegetative cover made easy.
- Flexible Nature – Able to move and settle without failure, even on unstable soils.
- Economical – Suitable stone can be normally found on site or from a nearby commercial rock supply.
- The gabion basket has a high compressive resistance (rock) and tensile (mesh) strength capacity.
- Baskets allow free drainage of water through the structure, weep holes are unnecessary (porosity – 35%).
- Vegetation can be incorporated within or over the structures to blend in with the local environment.
- The local ecosystem within a riverine environment is unaffected using gabions, as they allow the free flow of water and growth of plants through their structures, even the breeding of fish in the open pore spaces.
- With time the strength of a gabion protection is enhanced with the growth of plants, their root systems penetrating the porous gabion structure and hiding the construction scar of a gabion intervention.
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