This invention relates to a method for making and filling gabions, a mold for this purpose and a resulting gabion.

When reference is made to gabions, what is explicitly meant is a basket made from metal wire, to be filled with crushed stone, the kind of which is commonly used for making walls, earthwork, noise barriers and similar structures, for example to support the soil in various slopes or to prevent e.g. traffic noise along roads. Gabions can be stacked on top of each other to form fairly tall structures.

In their simplest applications, gabions are assembled from metallic wire mesh and filled with suitable material by hand. It is possible to manually assemble stones or similar filler pieces in a desired manner and the end result is aesthetic. However, manual filling is possible only in very rare circumstances, because the work is slow and the end result is very expensive. In some special cases this is, however, acceptable.

Typically, mesh gabions are brought to the final location and are filled on site usually using an excavator; material is taken into the bucket of the excavator and is then dropped into the gabion. Alternatively, the gabion may be filled in the vicinity of the location, from where the filled gabion is lifted into position.

In addition to the above, systems are known according to which filling of the gabion is carried out at a suitable workstation. The gabion is placed into a mold during the filling, in which case the gabion cannot bulge or otherwise be deformed. The filled gabion is moved to its installation site and positioned into the desired location of a future wall or the like.

Gabions provide quite spectacular support structures, as long as the work is carried out carefully— The disadvantage ofmach

surface, which in the resulting wall will remain visible, is not always as aesthetic as desired. It is clear that in machine-filled gabions there will inevitably be pits and certain pieces of the aggregate tend to penetrate through the openings of the metal mesh, causing an uneven surface. When the filling of the gabions is done at a filling station and the gabion is vibrated during filling, the formation of pits is avoided to a significant extent. The formation of a completely or nearly flat facade surface is, however, coincidental.

The present invention aims at providing a method and an apparatus, with the aid of which gabions are provided, whose surface remaining visible is very aesthetic and

homogeneous. The above-mentioned benefits and advantages are achieved in the manner described as characteristic in the accompanying claims.

The invention comprises a method for making a gabion consisting of metal wire / mesh and filled with crushed stone or a similar material, by using a mold. In the method, the walls of the gabion are assembled into the mold so that the wires / mesh of the visible surface of the structure made from the baskets abuts the substantially closed bottom surface of the mold. The mold is filled with a desired material to the desired extent and the open side of the gabion is closed using surface wires / mesh / plate, after which the gabion is transported in the mold to an installation site and is installed.

According to one embodiment, the substantially closed bottom of the mold is provided with grooves that align with the wires of mesh-like structure forming the facade surface of the gabion, for countersinking the wires to the surface level or below it. According to another embodiment, the gabion is filled while its prospective facade surface is facing downwards, and is turned at the installation site so that the facade surface is in the desired position, usually vertical.

-AGGording-to-a^hird-embodiment^

According to a further embodiment, a non-woven fabric layer is added between the contents of the gabion and the wires / mesh forming its walls. Furthermore, the invention comprises a mold for use during the preparing, filling and transfer of gabions, comprising a base and side walls. At least part of the walls of the mold consists of tab-shaped wall parts which are located at a distance from each other. According to one embodiment, the mold has a substantially closed bottom and walls consisting of tabs.

According to another embodiment, in the bottom of the mold are grooves substantially according to the wire / mesh shape of the gabion for receiving said wires / mesh.

According to a third embodiment, the mold has means for engaging standard tractor / excavator-operated fastening means.

Furthermore, the invention comprises a gabion to be filled with crushed stone or a similar material to be used for making retaining walls and the like, and consisting of metal wires / mesh. The side of the filled gabion which is to be left visible is formed of one or more metal wire mesh sections, the sides are formed of metal wires attached to said sections and the cover is formed of a mesh-like or a plate-like part, and fixing of said part is to be carried out with the aid of said wires.

According to one embodiment, in the said mesh sections of the gabion there are folded edges on at least two sides.

According to another embodiment, the side of the filled gabion remaining visible consists of two parallel metal wire mesh sections fixed to each other.

According to a third embodiment, the wires of the gabion side walls form a clearly coarser structure than the wire structure of the side of the gabion remaining visible. According to yet another embodiment, the filled gabion has a layer of non-woven fabric at least under its cover wires / mesh. In the following, the invention is described in a greater detail with reference to the accompanying patent drawings, which show, mainly as schematic illustrations, well regarded embodiments of the invention. Figure 1 shows an oblique view of a mold falling within the scope of the invention to be implemented according to a method of the invention;

Figure 2 shows the mold according to figure 1 , in which has been outlined at least part of the wires / mesh of which a gabion is formed;

Figure 3 shows wires / mesh of a gabion outlined without a mold;

Figure 4 in turn shows an exemplary part of the mesh structure of the facade side of a gabion, seen from an oblique direction and also a cross-section of said structure.

In figure 1 is thus shown a mold 1 , by the use of which a method according to the invention may be carried out in a feasible manner. The mold 1 includes a bottom 2 and four walls 3- 6. The manufacturing material is selected as appropriate, but in particular it is metal. To this mold 1 has been fixed suitable means 7, with the help of which the mold can be moved by means of standard machines as, for example, a tractor, an excavator or the like. In particular, for said machines, there are systems suitable for the quick fastening of buckets or other components, which can particularly be utilized in this system as well.

As is clearly visible from figure 1 , the walls 3-6 are by no means closed walls, but mainly created from suitable strip-formed tabs 8. The tab form is proper for the reason that between the tabs 8, free space is provided through which certain operations can be carried out, and in particular, as later described, the tab form is advantageous when the filled gabion is set in place. Already in this context, it should be mentioned that the walls of the mold may also be closed on three sides, but for practical reasons the wall which at the final installation site of the gabion represents the bottom side has to be partly open. At all the walls, the tab form facilitates various functions, which the present invention describes. As Figure 1 clearly shows, the bottom 2 of the mold 1 is closed, but cross-grooved 9. The grooves running in one direction are deeper than the intersecting grooves. This is because the gabion-forming mesh set into the mold and placed against the mold base is received into the grooves so, that the outer wire of the mesh is received in the deeper groove and the mesh wire being towards to the interior is received in the shallower groove. Thus, all the wires of the mesh sit tightly on the bottom of the grooves of the base plate, and the bottom has no protruding wires on its inner face. In figure 2, the contemplated mesh structure has been outlined as partially visible. In the same context, it is necessary to consider also figures 3 and 4, which illustrate the mesh structure and part of it without the mold.

Figure 4 shows a basic element 10 of the gabion according to the invention, which might be described as a trough-like steel mesh structure. The element consists of a sufficient number of longitudinal wires 11 in the base region and also a sufficient number of longitudinal wires 12 in the side region. The sides 15 are folded substantially at right angle relative to the bottom. Also, at least one end is similarly bent at right angle relative to the bottom. As one might expect, the division of the wires of the element 10 corresponds to the division of the bottom grooves 9 of the mold.

It is intended that one or more, usually two such elements 10 are used in parallel to form a structure having the width and length of the mold, covering the bottom of the mold substantially completely and the wires of which structure are neatly received in the grooves 9 of the bottom 2 of the mold 1.

Figures 2 and 3 show an extension of the network structure. Reference numeral 13 denotes the individual steel wires, which are attached to the sides of the elements 10, 10 to rise substanJia]ly_p^p_e_ndic.ularlyJrom hem

provided with hook-like ends, with the use of which the wires 13 can be quickly and easily attached to structures. As shown, the wires are adjusted to an adequate density, but in the method according to the invention described in the following, there is no need for a very dense distribution. The wires 13 are thus situated along the sides of the mold, but also in the connecting area of the elements 10, 10 in the middle of the mold. As seen from the figure 2, the wires 13 are preferably located in the area of the free space between tabs 8.

The gabion according to figure 3 is thus prepared inside of the mold . The cover mesh marked with reference numeral 14 is fixed into place only when the gabion has become sufficiently filled.

The facade surface of the gabion as filled and transported to the installation site is shaped against the bottom of the mold 1. In other words, for filling the gabion formed from mesh and wires, the mold 1 is rotated to the position in which the bottom is the actual bottom and the mold / gabion is open upwards. Preferably, although by no means necessarily, the filling with crushed stone or similar material is performed on a vibrating table. A sufficient amount of filling material is scooped into the mold, vibrating at the same time. During the filling, the material compacts and settles. Since the base of the mold is smooth and closed and prevents edges of the material from being pushed out of the mesh, the vibrated material forms a really smooth and aesthetic surface compared to conventionally made gabions. After the filling has been done, the cover mesh 4, which can also be clearly sparser than the bottom mesh, is tied by means of wires 13, whose upper ends are tightly folded over the cover mesh. The package is now complete.

If desired, it is possible to use a non-woven fabric layer between the stones and the cover mesh, which assists in keeping the contents of the gabion in place even when quite sparse mesh is used. On the other hand this also prevents soil that comes behind the installed gabions to be mixed into the content of the gabion. It is of course clear that the fiber fabric can be used for the same purpose if desired also relative to the other walls of the gabion, with the exception of the facade side which remains visible.

The finished gabion with the mold is transferred to the installation site and positioned on a foundation or on a previous gabion as follows. Prior to installation, the structure as a whole, being supported by an excavator or a corresponding jib, is turned to a position in which the mold base is in the direction which will be visible, that is perpendicular to the filling position. Since the positioning can be carried out with an accuracy of a few millimeters laterally against the end of the previous gabion, the installation becomes precise. The mold is therefore set tightly against the side wall of the previous gabion on the foundation or on top of an existing gabion, and the mold is pulled out away from the facade surface so that the gabion remains in place. The remaining in place of the gabion is secured by the smooth tabs beneath the mold (in this position) and the fact that from the sparse underside mesh will always protrude edges of aggregate, which prevent the gabion from sliding along during mold removal. At this stage, it is also easy to make corrective movements with a working machine for positioning the gabion precisely. Forming a retaining wall from the gabions is quick and easy, because during the installation of the gabion the upper and lower surfaces, as well as the sides are all completely straight.

In the method according to the invention and by using the gabion according to the invention, a significant amount of mesh / wires can be saved. Because the gabion is supported in the mold all the time, there is no need to provide support by using a dense wire structure, but a sparser will suffice. Indeed, as has been clearly set forth above, in the bottom from which the facade surface of the finished structure is formed, the mesh is denser.

The cover mesh 14 may also be sparse, since from this side the gabion is normally supported by earthwork after the installation.

Still another saving comes from the fact that when desired it is possible to leave the end of a gabion that will form an extension of a previous gabion to be supported practically only by the mold, since support is provided through the end of the previous gabion. By using a mold / a gabion / a method according to the invention, savings in the use of filling material are achieved, because the filling can be done easily, so that in the filling phase the edge of the gabion which will face upwards in the final positioning can be incompletely filled, in which case the horizontal "thickness" at the top of the wall is smaller than in the lower gabions.

The facade surface which has been vibrated and prepared against a flat surface is aesthetically very impressive. This is due to the fact that the filling material settles against the flat surface to form an equally smooth surface, which is elegant and neat compared to current gabions.

It should also be noted that one alternative instead of using the cover mesh 14 is to use a plate-shaped surface material to close the gabion. This can be used as required to achieve benefits such as visual appearance by leaving the plate surface visible (forming the back surface of the wall). On the other hand, the plate material also adds stability to the gabion.

The invention can be modified in many ways without, however, deviating from the inventive idea and the scope of protection defined by the accompanying claims.