Gabion Baskets
Please input the length and height of your retaining wall into the calculator below. The calculator will provide a design based on our standard designs as calculated by a geotechnical consultant. It will price the gabion baskets required and calculate volume of stone. Standard thickness is 3mm for walls up to 3m in height. If you know what size gabion baskets you require, they are priced at the bottom of the page.
Click here for Video showing how this works and advice.
- If you have measured the length of your required retaining wall and know the height you wish to retain, but are unsure of what gabion baskets to use, then type these details into the calculator below.
- This will give you all of the gabion baskets required to build your retaining wall, based on a standard design and show you the layout of the gabion baskets. As our gabion baskets are only made as standard in increments of 0.5m, please input your sizes to the nearest 0.5m. You can cut down the end gabion baskets and rewire together with the lacing wire on site to make up exact distances.
- All sizes when descibed in metric are nominal (.5m = 533mm, 1m = .99m, 1.5m = 1524mm, 2m = 1981mm)
- There is also an option to choose hand laying partitions on this screen, which allows you to use low quality or smaller stone behind the divider, and good quality stone on the front where it is visible. This can produce significant savings in areas where stone is expensive. . We also ship gabions to Europe. If your retaining wall is larger, or you wish to speak to someone about your requirements, please don't hesitate to call us as we will be more than happy to help.
- The designs given on this page should not be used as a substitute for taking detailed and specific advice from a structural engineer. The recommendations and advice are given without Liability on the part of Fine Mesh Metals and should not be relied upon for any action or inaction. A more detailed description of the suitability and limitations is available on the Standard designs page.
Contact us today for Support or to place an order on 01902 810 310
A 3mm wire gabion basket is the standard thickness for up to 3m in height. For architectural uses such as free standing walls and cladding, 4mm should be used to give the straightest face. 4mm gabions are also used for walls over 3m in height and in areas where vandalism is rife.
If you’re inexperienced with gabion baskets, you may want to consider a 3mm with 4mm face basket. These reduce the risk of bulging from incorrect gabion installation. 5mm gabions are used for military applications and prisons.
All our gabion panels are European sourced (you can’t get the coating in Britain). Though there are cheaper Chinese baskets available in the UK, the weld quality is low and the coating is thin. We have had many distraught customers come to us after their baskets bought from other suppliers have split or rusted.
The standard finish (coating) is Galfan, sometimes called Galmac or 4 life. It’s a Zinc/ aluminium finish that lasts 60 years. This is used in all circumstances apart from in polluted rivers and costal areas. The lifespan of this finish is 60 years
Our green pvc coated baskets should be used in costal environments where a salt breeze can be very corrosive. The Pvc adds an extra layer of protection.
All our baskets are to the highways specification.
3” x 3” (76.2mm x 76.2mm) x 3,4 or 5mm Galfan coated (95% Zinc 5% Aluminium for up to 4 times the life of a galvanised finish) welded mesh Gabion baskets wire as per EN 10218-2. All mesh panels used to produce our baskets are European sourced and conform to EN10244-2 with a tensile range of 540-770N/mm2, steel grade 0.10% Carbon max, Weld sheer strength minimum 75% of the tensile strength of the wire. Prices include all lacing wire required for final assembly.
3” x 3” (76.2mm x 76.2mm) x 2.77/3.22mm Galfan and PVC coated (95% Zinc 5% Aluminium for up to 4 times the life of a galvanized finish) welded mesh Gabion baskets wire as per EN 10218-2. PVC coated to an over all diameter or 3.22mm, average coating thickness is no less than 0.25mm, PVC coating is compound UV stabilized as per ISO4892-2 All mesh panels used to produce our baskets are European sourced and conform to EN10244-2 with a tensile range of 540-770N/mm2, steel grade 0.10% Carbon max, Weld sheer strength minimum 75% of the tensile strength of the wire. Prices include all lacing wire required for final assembly.
Helicoils are 1m long springs, 25mm in diameter (they can be cut in half). They replace the job of lacing up the verticals of the gabion baskets. They connect 4 panels together in one go, so speed up installation. They are no better strength wise than the lacing wire that is included in the price. The lacing wire can be made flusher to the edge wire, so the joins are less visible than with the helicoils. However, many people like the visual effect of the helicoils.
Handlaying partitions are sold by the square metre. These panels are the same material as the baskets, normally either a 1m x 1m panel, or 1m x .5m panel. If you wire them into the desired position, you can create a false front, which allows you to hand lay good stone quickly. You can then backfill behind this partition with cheaper stone such as building rubble, or you can even get away with using smaller stone, which would otherwise come through the mesh. This can halve the cost of your fill or even allow you to use material on site.
We discount based on quantity. If you input your quantities in the table and click the update button, it will give you your discounted prices based on the total number of items selected (in all rows). This also takes into account the other items you have in your basket.
If you input your length and height into the calculator, it will produce the industry standard design for walls up to 3m in height. The industry standard gabion wall design is what we would always recommend. Gabions work as a mass retaining structure, so the higher you go, the more weight you need in your wall.
Apart from the 4mm faces and handlaying partitions, another gabion option we provide is to cut the baskets down to your sizes. Due to the nature of wiring up a basket they have to be cut down to the nearest flush edge. This means it is only possible to cut to the nearest 3 inches (the aperture of the mesh). As Galfan is a sacrificial coating the cut ends are still protected.
We can also cut and spot weld the baskets to make angles but this is an expensive solution.
Gabion prices (If you know what sizes you require)
If you know what size of gabion baskets you need to make your retaining wall, or your retaining wall has several heights, please type in the quantities into the table rather than the calculator.
The prices are based on volume and there are quantity discounts, so please input all your required gabion baskets at the same time to get the cheapest prices.
Gabion baskets 1m x .5m can be laced up with either the 1m or the .5m being the height. Please note gabions 1m high x .5m deep would not adhere to our standard retaining wall designs and we wouldn't recommend using them this way.