As a good alternative to fencing, built of brick and stone by traditional technology, modern builders and landscape designers offer to use gabion fences - three-dimensional mesh structures, the inner part of which can be filled with different materials. Traditionally, gabions are made of mesh and stone, but they can be filled with broken bricks and tiles, glass bottles, wood saws, etc..
Gabion fence with stone filling
Choosing different materials to fill gabions, you can give the latter different decorative characteristics, which is successfully used by modern landscape designers. However, extraordinary decorativeness is not the only advantage of gabions, which due to the large mass can withstand extreme snow and wind loads, not prone to deformation over time, even when installed on unstable soil. That is also important, that the installation of a fence of stones, placed in a grid, if we compare this process with the construction of stone and brick buildings using traditional technology, economically more profitable. This benefit is explained by these, that gabions during installation do not require serious deepening, creating a solid foundation and using concrete mortar to connect the stones used.
Types of gabion structures
Gabion constructions, which have been used for a long time, originally used as prefabricated fortifications, including military purposes. A little later, with their help, they began to strengthen the shores of reservoirs, slopes of ravines and hills, as well as arrange terraces on sloping areas. And only relatively recently, landscape designers have drawn attention to the decorative characteristics of gabions, who began to actively use these buildings to decorate residential areas.
Gabions as a retaining wall
Gabion structures are classified on several grounds, such as:
- geometric shape (flat buildings of horizontal type, which are also known as "Renault mattresses"; vertical three-dimensional structures - Jumbo boxes; gabions of cylindrical type);
- the type of grid used (gabions, made of reinforced welded or twisted wire mesh; in the second case, the cell of the grid used has the shape of a hexagon);
- type of filler (gabions with stone filler, etc.).
The main types of gabions
For gabion fences, usually, use vertical three-dimensional boxes, mesh elements which are made of pieces of thick wire, interconnected by welding. Cylindrical mesh structures can be used to further decorate such barriers, which will perform the functions of decorative columns. In the fences, made of gabions, niches are often made, in which garden furniture is easily built in. At the top of such structures, if you pour a layer of fertile soil on them, you can break the flower garden, plant shrubs or even dwarf trees.
If you decide to make a fence of gabions with your own hands, keep in mind, that such structures due to their considerable weight are not suitable for the manufacture of gates and wickets. Meanwhile, to choose for such fences elements of the entrance groups of the appropriate design will not be a big problem, as they integrate well with gates and wickets, in the design of which artistic forging and ordinary metal are used.
Gates and gates in gabion structures are fixed on poles, pre-installed inside the frames
Using fences, made of gabions, rather than barrier structures of the traditional type, you can successfully solve many problems, in particular:
- create barriers in the middle of the reservoir or on its shoreline;
- erect fences on plots, characterized by complex relief;
- erect reliable and attractive barrier structures on weak soil.
How to make a fence from gabions
Fences made of stones, placed in a metal mesh, as mentioned above, are erected without the use of concrete mortar, therefore, their elements have some mobility. This design feature of gabions allows not to consider at their construction shrinkage and swelling of soil within 5-10 div. If even the movement of soil within the above limits occurs, then such a fence will not collapse and will not undergo significant deformation: the stones will simply be redistributed and take a different position.
At design designing and a choice of material for filling of a fence from gabions it is necessary to consider the following nuances.
- Big stones, which in the design of gabions look very beautiful, are quite expensive. If the erected fence has a significant width, then only its external walls can be decorated with such stones, and fill the inside with fine gravel or construction debris, which are wrapped in geotextile.
- For erection of a fence from gabions it is possible not to fill in the base. If their inner part is covered with small pebbles, then the frames of buildings must be deepened into the ground to a depth 20-40 cm
- Great spatial rigidity of the gabion is achieved through the use of large stone as a filler and more accurate laying. Fences, created from gabions with such a filler, it is possible to erect even without use of protective grids and to carry out their installation even on a soil surface, removing only the arable layer from it.
- If light materials are chosen as gabion fence filler (wooden saws, etc.), then such structures should be mounted on a layer of bedding material, as which you can use gravel.
High and narrow gabion fencing requires more serious training
Marking and site preparation
Creating a fence or other barrier structure of gabions, keep in mind, that the structures have the maximum rigidity, mesh frames which are made of thicker wire, connected by welding. In the nets, made of thin twisted wire, large boulders can protrude outwards, but such barrier structures will not be destroyed, although they will not look very attractive.
Preparing a trench for a low gabion fence
When marking the area, on which the fence from gabions will be established, it is enough to stretch a string or a cord for delimitation of external perimeter of a future design. Site preparation is as follows:
- All debris is removed from the top of the soil, plants and fertile layer, which contains the seeds of these plants.
- Dig a trench of appropriate size.
- The bottom of the trench and its side walls are lined with geotextile, which will not allow weeds to germinate.
Frame installation
To prepare a mesh frame for gabion fencing, you can use one of the following methods:
- buy a ready-made grid with hexagonal cells, made of twisted wire with zinc or polymer protective layer;
- buy ready grid welded cards, made of galvanized wire;
- using thick wire, cook the mesh yourself, and then cover them with paint, resistant to external atmospheric influences.
Fastening of side walls and bottom
The size of the cells of the finished or self-made card is chosen depending on, which fractions of stones will be used to fill the mesh structure.
Basic complete set of a gabion, which will be an integral part of the fence, includes:
- side mesh walls - 2 PC.;
- end walls - 2 PC.;
- bottom - 1 PC.;
- carcass cover - 1 PC.;
- reinforcing jumpers (them depending on the size of the structure can be from 2 to 6 PC.).
Installation of partitions and screeds
U-shaped screeds are used as reinforcing bridges in mesh and stone fences, which are necessary for that, to ensure the stability of the geometry of the structure and evenly distribute the load on its elements. All elements of the gabion, except for its opposite walls, are fixed among themselves by means of special spirals, wire twists or other fasteners. Welded mesh, mass-produced, usually issued in the form of maps of 3x0.95 m with 5x5 cells, 10x10 or 5x10 see. Horizontal bars of welded structures, usually, are made of wire of larger diameter and are located on the outside of the mesh frame.
Bookmark gabion stone
How to properly fill the gabion
When filling the gabion with the selected material, it is recommended to follow certain rules, which are as follows.
- The stones should be arranged in layers, trying to stack them as close to each other as possible. In wide constructions, as mentioned above, large stones are located only at the walls, and the inner part of the gabion is filled with sand, pebbles or construction debris, which are wrapped in geotextile.
- After filling the structure to the middle of its height perform the installation of reinforcing jumpers.
- The gabion after installation of jumpers is filled with the used material to the top.
- Big boulders, used to fill the gabion, it is impossible to stack on reinforcing jumpers - only on a layer of material of smaller fraction.
- After filling the mesh box of the gabion on it set the next and perform the operation of filling it in the same sequence, until the created fence reaches the required height.