Gabion Retaining Wall Design Guidelines

Retaining wall profiles and design factors

Design notes:

The retaining wall toe prevents the gabion wall sliding forwards, the depth of the toe needs to increase as the wall gets bigger. When building gabions on softer soils, both the depth of the toe and the size of the base needs to be increased to spread the load over a wider area. An engineer’s design will consider design limit states and specify the dimensions of the toe and base for your wall.

Any excavations should be checked for any flows or seepage that require drainage measures. Any flows, seepage or standing water should be directed to a suitable outfall as soon as they are encountered. The wall drainage must be inspected and maintained (rodded/jetted) annually and after particularly heavy rainfall events. This is essential to prevent the pore water pressures increasing behind any retaining wall.

For larger retaining walls and difficult sites, it is recommended that a soil investigation is undertaken and that the wall is designed by a qualified geotechnical engineer.

If a safety fence or barrier is placed along the top of a gabion wall, to prevent falls. It is assumed that this fence will be post and mesh, or open boarded, so as to not add any wind or impact loads to the gabion structure. Possible wind and impact loads need to be considered and the design revised to accommodate these loads on the gabion retaining wall.

Temporary excavations have the potential to collapse rapidly and without warning, and may become unstable during wet weather. Contractors should plan their work to reduce this risk of collapse and consider the use of temporary propping during construction.

No liability is accepted where a typical section is used as a the basis for the final design. The suggested details provided are guidelines only for budget purposes.

It is assumed that any building foundations on the retained side of the walls will be taken to such as level so as to ensure that no loads are transferred to the Gabions or backfill. The building
foundations must not rely on the Gabions or for support, and are outside the scope of simple designs for budget purposes.

When the gabion retaining wall is subjected to a additional surcharges, from a driveway or other loads, the designer will most likely increase the thickness of the gabions, to handle the higher expected loads.

Most gabion retaining walls can be built on soils with a minimum bearing capacity of 100Kpa. Any soft, loose, organic or unsuitable material must be removed and replaced with compacted granular fill.

When constructing gabion retaining walls in strongly acidic soils(PH over 5.5), the soil and the corrosive groundwater must be separated from the gabion structure by using geotextile fabrics and a properly designed drainage system.

For advice or assistance with the design of an economical gabion wall, please email our [email protected]

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