ABSTRACT
The word 'gabion' originally designated a wicker basket filled with earth or stones; a group of these (correctly known as a 'gabionade') were used to form a barricade to protect troops digging trenches in siege work; the baskets were placed on the front edge of the trench and filled with the material excavated from behind. Nowadays gabions consist of heavy wire mesh crates filled with stones, and although they would still doubtless make an excellent protection for troops, the mobility of modern warfare makes them rather less useful. Their main function today is to provide a very strong retaining structure resistant to slippage and water action; they are used for retaining walls to eroded hillsides, for sea walls and river walls, and for facing up friable rock faces which might crumble without warning onto motorway drivers. They are often used where the retained material is likely to be saturated, or where the bearing quality of the soil is poor.
