Gabion calculator

Sources

1. FHWA Federal Lands, standard drawing W253-3: filled gabions weigh 105 lb/ft³ (17.6 kN/m³, about 1.7 t/m³)
2. US Department of Defense, UFGS 31 36 00 Gabions: rock 100–200 mm for gabions 500 mm and taller, large enough not to pass the mesh; at most 5 % oversize or undersize, undersize only inside, never on the face; room for three or more layers of rock per compartment; hard, angular to round, durable rock that does not break down in water or weather, with freeze-thaw testing; at most 5 % dirt, sand, clay and fines; 300 mm lifts, no cell more than 300 mm higher than its neighbour; stiffeners at ⅓ and ⅔ of the height; hand-placed visible faces; drop height at most 0.9–1.2 m; overfill 25–50 mm; no foundation work on frozen ground
3. Iowa DOT Standard Specifications §9050, Gabions and revet mattresses: lifts of at most 300 mm; stones turned by hand after each lift; connecting wires not needed in gabions up to 450 mm tall; two wires on each exposed face of each cell between lifts, about 300 mm apart; overfill 25–50 mm; firm, unyielding subgrade compacted to 95 % of standard Proctor
4. Hertfordshire County Council, standard drawing HST-0600-001 Typical gabion retaining walls: fill graded 100–200 mm; welded mesh 75 × 75 mm; retained height 350–550 mm with one 1.0 × 1.0 m gabion, up to 1.5 m with a 1.5 m wide gabion under a 1.0 m one; gabions buried 300–500 mm; face batter 6°; foundation of compacted well-graded granular fill or concrete, at least 50 mm wider than the basket on each side; bracing wires after ⅓ and ⅔ of the height, end units braced both ways; no compartment more than 300 mm higher than its neighbour; exposed faces hand packed; vertical joints staggered; slight overfill where gabions are stacked; geotextile behind the gabions and on all buried faces
5. FHWA-RD-97-148, Granular base: natural aggregates weigh about 2.0–2.3 t/m³ in place