Stone Gabions

smokingman

Hi all,

We need to hold back a bank of earth and sand beside our house build and we were told that while a retaining wall of reinforced concrete will cost us a pretty penny (~10-15 G), another option that would be way cheaper would be using stone gabions - those baskets of stone you see at hotels and beachfronts across the country.

Has anyone had experience of these (installation and upkeep etc) as I kinda like the look of them....

Cheers in advance

smashey

Try these guys.

ircoha

smokingman wrote:

Hi all,

We need to hold back a bank of earth and sand beside our house build and we were told that while a retaining wall of reinforced concrete will cost us a pretty penny (~10-15 G), another option that would be way cheaper would be using stone gabions - those baskets of stone you see at hotels and beachfronts across the country.

Has anyone had experience of these (installation and upkeep etc) as I kinda like the look of them....

Cheers in advance

How can u say with certainty that gabions will be way cheaper: just look at the pic in the link smashy posted and u will see a substantial foundation is required: depending on the application and the ground condistions, this foundation may need to be keyed into the ground to ensure a decent grip

Also can u afford to loose a metre or so just for the wall?

what height of wall are u considering and what height and slope of material will be behind it.

u MUST consider what will happen when u get excessive rainfall: what ever u do make sure the drainage from behind the wall is 100%

while in theory sand is good for draining if it gets too wet, it runs like water.

If the sand is under the clay, the weight of the clay will make the sand less stable when wet.

Not trying to put the frighteners but this is a serious topic, far more so as to whether u have a 50" or 48" lcd

godtabh

smokingman wrote:

Hi all,

We need to hold back a bank of earth and sand beside our house build and we were told that while a retaining wall of reinforced concrete will cost us a pretty penny (~10-15 G), another option that would be way cheaper would be using stone gabions - those baskets of stone you see at hotels and beachfronts across the country.

Has anyone had experience of these (installation and upkeep etc) as I kinda like the look of them....

Cheers in advance

Poorly constructed gabion walls can lead to rat problems

godtabh

ircoha wrote:

How can u say with certainty that gabions will be way cheaper: just look at the pic in the link smashy posted and u will see a substantial foundation is required: depending on the application and the ground condistions, this foundation may need to be keyed into the ground to ensure a decent grip

Also can u afford to loose a metre or so just for the wall?

what height of wall are u considering and what height and slope of material will be behind it.

u MUST consider what will happen when u get excessive rainfall: what ever u do make sure the drainage from behind the wall is 100%

while in theory sand is good for draining if it gets too wet, it runs like water.

If the sand is under the clay, the weight of the clay will make the sand less stable when wet.

Not trying to put the frighteners but this is a serious topic, far more so as to whether u have a 50" or 48" lcd

Linners can be put at the back of the gabion to prevent water getting through. the wall would normally be designed for a build up of water behind it. Filter trains can also be placed behind it inoder to prevent the build up of water pressuers.

These walls can be built and used in the exact same way as retaining walls

ircoha

kearnsr wrote:

These walls can be built and used in the exact same way as retaining walls

Op: I beg to differ with the above. A comparision of the two products will make why pretty self-evident.

godtabh

ircoha wrote:

Op: I beg to differ with the above. A comparision of the two products will make why pretty self-evident.

They are both used to retain soil

smokingman

ircoha wrote:

How can u say with certainty that gabions will be way cheaper: just look at the pic in the link smashy posted and u will see a substantial foundation is required: depending on the application and the ground condistions, this foundation may need to be keyed into the ground to ensure a decent grip

Also can u afford to loose a metre or so just for the wall?

what height of wall are u considering and what height and slope of material will be behind it.

u MUST consider what will happen when u get excessive rainfall: what ever u do make sure the drainage from behind the wall is 100%

while in theory sand is good for draining if it gets too wet, it runs like water.

If the sand is under the clay, the weight of the clay will make the sand less stable when wet.

Not trying to put the frighteners but this is a serious topic, far more so as to whether u have a 50" or 48" lcd

Hey ircoha,

First off, the foundations for the retaining wall would need to be 2 meters wide and much the same for the gambions.
The wall was to be four foot tall and the bank behind it sloping back at around 40 degrees for about 10-12 meters. Drainage pipes would be put in at the bottom of the wall (behind it) to take away excessive water.
The bank is mostly made of sand with about a half meter of top soil that we're striping back, sloping the sandbank and then putting the topsoil back on with something like chicken wire to fasten it down.

I appreciate what you're saying about how serious a decision this is believe me, and I apreciate any opinion on the matter, good or bad.

With respect to the Rats thing, we have a lot of hardened wild cats in the area with plenty of rat-rendition medals already

ircoha

SM: thanks for reply.

A difference between the founds for the RW is that it would be well underground and the actual RW would be say only 400mm wide at the bottom and tapering up. to say 150/200mm

If the 10/12 metres is not in vertical height but the length of the slope it means the vertical height will be [sin 40 * 12 metres] c 8.5metres or 25 feet above the 4' gabion wall.
How far from the house is it?

just get advice on the drainage: u might need a 100/150mm 'wall' of crushed stone inside the liner on the gabions and a permeable membrane bewteen it and the sand so as to ensure the water gets out of the sand and down to the drains.

As with all such issues the key is proper workmanship once u decide on what to do.
Your engineer needs to be pretty visable when this work is being done. including weekends if they work weekends:eek:

other ideas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retaining_wall

Eurorunner

These are the main suppliers of gabions in ireland;

Phi Ireland
Maccaferri

They will be in a position to advise you further.

godtabh

Eurorunner wrote:

These are the main suppliers of gabions in ireland;

Phi Ireland
Maccaferri

They will be in a position to advise you further.

I've delt with both at one stage or another. CJ in Phi Ireland is very good and very technical (and he'll keep you on the phone a long time!0

kkelliher

depending on the weights that you are trying to hold back you should have a look at the mortarless retaining walls by tobermore and acheson glover. Very easy to instal and can be designed to go quite high leaving you with a nice finish

see here

http://www.tobermore.co.uk/index.cfm/section/products/product_key/28/product_category_key/7

http://www.acheson-glover.com/constructionpro/retaining_walls/

Mellor

kkelliher wrote:

depending on the weights that you are trying to hold back you should have a look at the mortarless retaining walls by tobermore and acheson glover. Very easy to instal and can be designed to go quite high leaving you with a nice finish

see here

http://www.tobermore.co.uk/index.cfm/section/products/product_key/28/product_category_key/7

http://www.acheson-glover.com/constructionpro/retaining_walls/

Both RC walls and Gabions are/can be design to fit to situation. Water/Rats/Foundations all considered. Space lost isn't an issue, both can be the same.

The OPs consideration for changing was the price. AFAIK Gabions aren't going to cost you alot less, if any. There are still alot of work involved. It really depends on a situation. So the best you can do is go out and get quotes. Both systems work, why debate the issue here. The OP is looking for info on upkeep etc. Not a extensive list of RW types. Seeing as that what he is getting i'll throw Reinforced Concrete Piles into the mix.

smokingman

We have a guy out this morning looking at the site to figure out a quote - if it's less than the expected 10-15 g for the retaining wall then we will be going for it.

So does anyone actually have gambions and what are they like to install/upkeep?

cheers

godtabh

smokingman wrote:

We have a guy out this morning looking at the site to figure out a quote - if it's less than the expected 10-15 g for the retaining wall then we will be going for it.

So does anyone actually have gambions and what are they like to install/upkeep?

cheers

A lot depends on workmanship. If the baskets arent packed, filled and closed properly there can be problems.

I havent used them much.

As the supplier as man questions as possible. As for examples of previous similar type jobs and have a look at them

thierrys other hand

hi smokingman .did you go for the gabions in the end? if you did did they work out ok, i'm thinking of doing the same thing myself. please no replys back as to why i shouldn't do it(without a positive alternative option)-lets just assume that i've worked out its more important than a 48" or 50" tv. Also both 48" and 50" TV's work out too expensive to use as retaining walls as i would need at least 30 of either or 25 of the older but heavier crd types. thanks in advance

muffler

thierrys other hand wrote: »

hi smokingman .did you go for the gabions in the end?

Send a PM to him. There's a limit on what is acceptable when it comes to grave digging.

Thread closed.