Gabion Baskets
HERMEQ supplies gabion baskets for ground stabilisation, erosion control and landscaping on construction, infrastructure and commercial projects. Our welded mesh gabions are manufactured in the UK from square, dimensionally stable welded mesh, in a choice of sizes and wire diameters to match the structural load and the finish required. They are used for retaining walls, slope reinforcement and boundaries. The modular design works for temporary and permanent installations, and the welded mesh holds its shape once filled. For soft banks and wetlands, the range also includes flexible gabion rock rolls. Both formats are held in permanent UK stock.
Welded mesh gabions and gabion rock rolls
The range covers two formats: rigid welded cages that hold a straight, stackable face, and flexible rock rolls that follow the ground they are laid on.
Welded mesh gabion baskets
Our welded mesh gabions are also known in the trade as gabion boxes or gabion cages. They are square mesh steel panels, welded at every intersection and stood up to form rectangular baskets that are filled on site. The panels are preformed and need no tensioning, so each basket keeps its shape as the stone goes in. The courses stack square and stay in line along the face. This is the format for any structure that has to stand vertical or stepped and hold a defined line, such as a retaining wall, a boundary or the edge of a terrace.
Gabion rock rolls
Gabion rock rolls are long cylinders of knotless netting packed with granite, laid lengthways along the toe of a bank or channel. The netting bends with the ground, so a roll sits tight against a soft, uneven or shifting bank and stays in contact with it as the soil settles. On the same ground, a rigid basket would bridge the hollows. Rock rolls are the format for soft engineering on rivers, ditches and wetlands, where the aim is to stop washout at the toe and give plants a stone bed to root into.
Gabion baskets for retaining walls, river banks and landscaping
Retaining walls and embankments
A gabion retaining wall works by gravity: the weight of the filled baskets holds back the soil behind them, and the open stone face lets groundwater drain through instead of building up pressure. Welded mesh gabions are used for permanent walls on highways, developments and boundary lines, where long runs have to stay in alignment and present a uniform face. They are also built where an embankment is cut back to win space for a road, yard or building platform. Where that cut has to stand open before the first course goes in, trench sheets support the excavation face. As the wall rises, neighbouring baskets are joined to each other course by course, so the filled baskets work together as a single mass.
River banks, channels and wetlands
On a watercourse, the threats are hydraulic pressure against the face and undercutting at the toe, and the condition of the bank decides the format. Where a channel needs a hard revetment or wall face, welded gabions take the flow forces, and the stiffness of the welded panels holds the face true against the current. On soft or uneven banks, rock rolls are laid as a scour-resistant toe. They are secured with chestnut stakes where the design calls for them and set under filter fabric, which holds fine soil in place while plants grow through. Coir logs or coir pallets go on top. As the planting roots down through the coir and into the voids in the granite, the bank becomes a living structure that strengthens over time. Plant placing rolls or baskets along a wet bank needs a running surface. Bog mats spread the load on the softest ground, and ground protection mats suit firmer access routes.
Landscaping, terraces and boundary walls
In landscaping the face is the finish, so the clean edges and square geometry of welded gabions count for as much as their strength. They are used to form terraces on sloping ground, retain raised planting zones and mark boundaries in commercial and agricultural landscaping.
Gabion wire thickness, coating and stone fill
Once the format is settled, three choices decide how a welded gabion wall stands up to its load.
Wire diameter and wall height
The welded mesh range comes in three wire diameters, and the greater the load on the wall, the heavier the wire should be. The range runs from 3mm wire for lower retaining walls and small landscape walls, through a middle gauge for medium to high retaining walls, up to 5mm for the highest load-bearing structures.
Galfan coating and design life
Every welded gabion in the range is made from Galfan-coated wire. Galfan is a zinc-aluminium alloy that protects the steel in wet ground and in fluctuating water levels, and it gives a design life of up to 50 years. The coating is the reason the same basket used for a dry boundary wall can also face a river channel or reservoir edge.
Choosing the stone fill
Gabion fill is hard, angular stone graded larger than the mesh aperture, so that nothing passes through the face and the pieces lock together as they settle. On a visible face, the front stones are placed by hand and the core behind them is filled by machine. This gives a tight, neat face without the labour of hand-packing the whole basket.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do gabion walls need a foundation?
A gabion wall needs a firm, level base. This is usually formed by stripping out topsoil and soft material and laying a compacted layer of granular fill. The first course sits directly on this base, so any unevenness shows in every course above it. Larger or heavily loaded walls call for a foundation designed for that load.
Does a gabion retaining wall need an engineer's design?
A retaining wall that holds back a significant height of soil should be designed by a structural or geotechnical engineer. The same applies to a wall that carries a road, building or parked vehicles at the top, or one that stands in or beside water. The designer sets the base width, the number and setback of courses, and the wire diameter. Low landscape walls on stable ground are commonly built to standard details.
Can gabions be used for temporary works?
Yes. Welded gabions are modular and go together without specialist equipment beyond the plant that handles the fill. This means they are used for temporary retaining, erosion protection and site boundaries as well as for permanent walls. When the works finish, the stone can be recovered.
Do gabion rock rolls arrive filled with stone?
Yes. Gabion rock rolls are supplied already filled with granite inside their netting, ready to lay. A filled roll is heavy, so lifting equipment is needed for offloading and for placing it on the bank.
What can a gabion be filled with besides quarried stone?
Recycled crushed concrete, reclaimed brick and other hard, durable materials larger than the mesh openings are all used as gabion fill. Materials that crumble, soften when wet or are small enough to pass through the mesh are not suitable for retaining walls. Brick or flat material laid in courses also gives a decorative face on landscaping work.