Gabion Baskets » Our Products

Our Products

Gabions and River Mattresses are supplied Class A galvanized or with an extra PVC coating to prevent corrosion of the steel wire in corrosive situations.

Hexagonal woven mesh netting is offered and used over River Mattresses for large areas of protection and for rock-fall mesh netting.

Geotextiles are used between all Gabion baskets and soil to prevent the movement of soil particles through the gabion or mattress structure, horizontally or vertically and thus preventing subsequent subsidence or failure.

Gabion tool sets are offered to make your site installation task easier and quicker and much better looking, our on site training incorporates the tool sets.

Bio-degradeable soil blankets are permiable fabrics used to prevent soil erosion on steep slopes, reducing soil water loss and support seedling root development. These products degrade over a time period, providing nitrogen to the new plants roots.

Impermeable liners are membranes which can be used to make gabions impermeable to water at low cost, normally used alongside a geotextile for protection when placed next to the gabion structure.

Sub-soil Pipes are plastic pipes with holes used in water logged soils to drain the water away from sensitive installations e.g. roads, sports fields, golf courses and developments. the correct soil drainage is very important in road construction situations.

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, contact us for further information about this.

Our Gabion Basket mesh is hexagonal in shape meeting with the 80×100 mm mesh aperture for gabions with a mesh wire of 2.7mm and selvedge wire of 3.4mm diameter. We also supply welded mesh gabion material.

River Mattresses also have a hexagonal mesh spec. of 80×100mm with 2.5mm mesh wire and 3.0mm selvage wire diameter, these are also referred to as gabions. 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 installation process, also sometime referred to as Binding wire. We also supply bracing rds for the bracing of the cages, with a 3.4mm diameter. It allows for much quicker installations.

Mattresses and gabion baskets are also available with an additional 0.5mm nominal thickness P.V.C. coating extruded over the Class A galvanised (Zinc) coating in all cases to enhance the resistance of the baskets to corrosion of the wire mesh in corrosive environments. This provides an overall increase in diameter of 1mm to all wires used in the manufacturing process. generally the design life of the PVC coated materials is a minimum of sixty (60) years.

Gabion and River Mattress Standard Sizes

Our standard gabion and river mattress sizes offered are shown below together with their volumes, we can also make other sizes where required or necessary, (please contact us for further information. Sub-standard sizes are more expensive to manufacture, we reccomend the use of these standard ones). All measurements are in metres, (length x width x height)

Gabion Baskets
1×1x1 – 1m³
2×1x1 – 2m³
3×1x1 – 3m³
4×1x1 – 4m³
1×1x0.5 – 0.5m³
2×1x0.5 – 1m³
3×1x0.5 – 1.5m³
4×1x0.5 – 2m³
6×2x0.5 – 6m³
1.5×1x1 – 1.5m³
2×0.5×0.5 – 0.5m³
4×0.5×0.5 – 1m³
Normally costed each or per m³

River Mattresses
2×1x0.3 – 0.6m³
3×1x0.3 – 0.9m³
4×1x0.3 – 1.2m³
6×2x0.17 – 2.04m³
6×2x0.23 – 2.76m³
6×2x0.30 – 3.60m³
Normally costed each, per m³ or m2

Rock Specification

In accordance with SANS 1200DK, the rock must be unweathered, and can be tested for its suitability using the accelerated weathering and durability tests. The rock size should meet the following requirements;

Gabion Baskets
Using 80×100mm hexagonal mesh
Min. 100mm up to 250mm maximum size

River Mattresses
Using 80×100mm hexagonal mesh
Min. 100mm up to 66% of mattress depth

A minimum rock density of 2.6ton/m³ is required – we allow 1.5tons of rock per m³ of gabion and approximately 30% more for wastage or fines depending on the quality of supply from the commercial rock source or quarry. Allowing 2tons of rock per m3 is normally adequate for installations.

Geotextiles

We recommend the use of an appropriate geotextile placed behind and below the gabion structure at all gabion/soil interfaces. This prevents subsidence behind or below the baskets once fast flowing waters pass through the structure carrying fine soils in suspension. A 300mm fabric overlap is allowed at all joins of geotextile, we suggest a product with a minimum mass of 210g/m2. It should allow the passage of water through the material and hold back all fine soil particles, geotextiles do not degrade with time when covered with soil.

Tool Sets

The tool sets consists of the following items to assist you in installing the gabion materials, it is not however a prerequisite to have these tools, they are an aid to achieving better results.

Combination pliers
Crow bars
Gabion tensioner
Gabion frame
Tensioning frame
Heavy duty hammer
Leather gloves
Stanley knive
Fencing standards

Biodegradeable Soil Blankets

These blankets are used to promote vegetation growth and help retain the top soil that is vital to protecting the earth against soil erosion. Their purpose is to keep the soil moist and cool during the initial growing phase of the plant and to encourage vegetation growth before the soil is transported. Both the woven and non-woven blankets are eco-friendly and degrade into the soil over time, providing nitrogen into the soil during the initial growth phase as well.

Impermeable Liners

These liners are used to make the gabion or river mattress impermeable to water and keep the backfill materials dry in place. Liners are normally placed between a geotextile and the backfill soil so that they are not damaged during the filling operation of the gabions. Because of the liners flexible, tough and durable nature it combines well with gabion rock baskets instead of using conventional soil stabilisation methodology.

Sub-soil Pipes

Often slotted sub-soil drainage pipes become necessary where soils need to be kept dry, near roads, sports fields, parking areas and even on golf courses during wet periods. Available in different diameters when required under different conditions. These products have a high wall stiffness (to prevent collapse during compaction) and are available as follows:-

Standard Lengths are 6m or 50m coils
Diameters available are 75, 100 and 160mm
Yellow line marks the direction to orientate pipe correctly
Accessories are available to facilitate 45 or 90 degree bends
Fin drain materials are available for keeping walls dry
Access boxes are also available

Sub-soil pipes reduce the level of the water table in an area so that foundations of buildings,roads and walls remain dry. We offer sub-soil pipes and geotextile combinations so that the installations on site progress rapidly.