More and more jobs today are specifying gabion baskets, gabions, or some sort of wire mesh wall. Today’s use of wire mesh will range from large scale earth retaining to interior architectural walls. These types of products have even made it to the main stream, ending up on popular shows like HGTV’s Dream Home, Yard Crashers, and recently ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition. As the industry goes towards green design and sustainability, the gabion and wire mesh wall products have adapted well.
Today’s gabion/wire wall market is comprised mainly around 3 different types of mesh with subcategories falling under these main types. The 3 common types are welded wire, twisted wire, and L-units. While L-units are essentially welded wire they do fall under their own category. Welded wire gabions and L-units typically have a more structural aesthetic while twisted wire gabions conform mostly how and what they are filled with. Since twisted wire gabions and gabion baskets are more of a “chain link” style mesh, they are much more likely to not have that straight line look. My personal take on this is that many jobs don’t have to have a structural look at all. We recently supplied gabions that went to an Air Force base that ended up being buried along a runway. The application on these gabions was a big storm wave break. Sacrificial earth is placed between the gabions and the beach so when large waves start eroding the earth the gabions act as a final protection for the runway. With all of that said, these gabions could have been twisted wire. This particular project specified stainless steel, since stainless steel is much easier to get in welded form, we supplied welded mesh.
Another question we all need to ask ourselves in the design and engineering phase of these projects is; do we need redundant panels and do redundant panels provide any extra strength to the particular design? A redundant panel or redundant wire is the wire mesh that touches each other when building a wall with gabion baskets that are preassembled. This wire, one could say, contributes to millions of dollars over the past decade to tax payers. Many gabions are used on road projects which are funded by tax revenue, either through gas tax or some other questionable means. There are few specifications out there that require only assembled baskets. If a job can be done using roll mesh and panels, more than 10% of total wire can be eliminated due to redundant panels! This saves the owner money, and potentially saves tax payers money. I am putting this out to the engineering community to see if anyone has run in to this dilemma while designing a gabion wall or some sort of wire mesh retaining wall.
Gabions, gabion baskets, and wire mesh can be very adaptable to job design, property limitations, and any other potential issue found commonly on many jobsites today. There is no question which of the 3 types of gabions is the most adaptable, its Welded wire. Can twisted wire pre-assembled baskets be cut in the field? In fact, when you cut the edge wire on a twisted wire basket doesn’t it lose its structural stability? I have seen many projects using both welded wire gabions and L-units where the wire has been cut without losing stability of the design to form fit a specific situation. Creating curved walls, unique shapes, trimming capabilities, and of course the reduction of redundant panels is all prominent features which make welded wire gabions much more adaptable!
Lastly, when choosing one of the 3 types, what size, color, and type of material are you looking for? Welded mesh is used in many different industries so availabilities are endless. Do you need purple coated galvanized aluminum? Do you need copper mesh? Is your fill limited to 1.5” stone? Twisted mesh is limited to a couple of different standards when it comes to material types, size of wire, and color.
Whether you are designing with welded wire gabions or twisted wire gabions, know that both products work very well. The concept of gabions date back as far as Leonardo da Vinci’s design he called “The Corbeille Leonard”, as the foundation of the San Marco Castle in Milan. We as designers, engineers, and innovators need to know what the availability and capability is of the wire mesh we are using in our designs. If we do this, we not only broaden everyone’s horizons on what is out there for design, but we can also help decrease wasteful spending on un-needed redundant wire. Check us out at www.midwestconstruct.com, www.gabionbaskets.net, and our resource center www.ipafes.com. Be sure to join our group Ipafes here on LinkedIn to see when the next closest PDH credited class is in your neighborhood.
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