TECHNICAL NOTE

Ref: INT / TN _DT_022 - Rev. 01, Dec. 2013

UNIT WEIGHT AND VOIDS RATIO OF GABIONS

1. General considerations
Gabions are boxes made of woven double twisted hexagonal steel wire mesh, filled with river boulders or
quarry stones. The mass of mesh can be neglected since it is minute when compared with the filling
material. Hard and durable stone can be used for filling the gabion (see TN-DT-007), and Table 1 gives the
indicative density s of some of the most common filling materials.
Type of rock
Basalt

Unit weights (kN/m3)

29

Granite

26

Hard limestone

26

Trachytes

25

Sandstone

23

Soft limestone

22

Tuff

17

Table 1 - Indicative unit weights of different types of rocks

When the density of filling material and voids ratio n are known, the unit mass of gabion structure is:

For easy calculation, the density of gabions g , related to the density of stone fills s may be found from the
curve Figure 1, for different values of n.
If the voids are partially filled with water, and u is the degree of saturation, the unit weight becomes:

nu

When the gabions are saturated with water, i.e. when u=1 the unit weight becomes:

When the gabions are under water, their weight is diminished by the uplift force acting on the stone filling:
the density of submerged gabions gw is therefore:
1

TECHNICAL NOTE
Ref: INT / TN _DT_022 - Rev. 01, Dec. 2013

Figure 1 - Density of gabions g related to different densities s of stone fill, for various values of n

2. Choice of the correct granulometric curve

A sample of natural quarry blocks will display a range of block masses or sieve size. The percentage of
total mass lighter or smaller than a given mass or size is often presented as cumulative curves for
assessment of mass and size distributions. The block mass is expressed by My, where y per cent of the
total (or cumulative) sample mass is lighter than M. For example, M50 is the mass of the theoretical block of
which half the mass of sample is lighter.
The overall steepness of the curve is an indication of the uniformity in mass, generally termed the grading
width or gradation. A quantitative indication of the uniformity is the ratio M85/M15 or its cube root, which
reduces to Dn85/Dn15 or D85/D15.
Table 2 (CIRIA C683) gives the description of the various widths, expressed in above mass and size ratios.
Grading width
Narrow or single-sized gradation

D85/D15
Less than 1.5

M85/M15
1.7-2.7

Wide gradation

1.5-2.5

2.7-16

Very wide or quarry run gradation

2.5-5.0

16-125+

Table 2 - Indicative unit weights of different types of rocks

For wide gradings, the phrase well graded merely implies that there are no significant gaps in material sizes
over the total width of the grading. Gap-graded material may occur naturally, or can result when two quite
different single-sized products have been blended.
Determination of the gradation of the granular material is important for the following reason:
the packing and the void porosity of bulk-placed materials is highly dependent on the overall slope
of the grading curve: for higher values of D85/D15 the corresponding value of n will be smaller
wider gradings will tend to segregate during bulk handling and stockpiling; limiting the grading width
can control this.

TECHNICAL NOTE
Ref: INT / TN _DT_022 - Rev. 01, Dec. 2013
Conclusions
The unit weight of gabions is influenced from the void ratio in addition to the geological characteristic of the
single rock. To correctly estimate the void index n its important to evaluate these following items:
1. Granulometric curve: the ratio D85/D15 of the gabions filling material is greater than 1.5.
D /D

1.5

If the value of the ratio is greater than 1.5, which is the typical case of stone filling for gabions, the
filling material can be assumed to be well graded
2. Installation method: to achieve the appropriate voids ratio n, its important to assure the correct
placement of the filling material in the gabions which has to made in compliance of the Maccaferri
Installation Guidelines.
When both conditions are assured (see figure 3), the voids ratio n to be assumed in the design of
gabions becomes:

Figure 2 - MME Mountain Road

Legend
n=
u=
s =
g =
gw =

Porosity: ratio between the volume of voids and the total volume of the soil.
Degree of saturation: percentage of the volume of voids filled with water.
Density of the stone fill.
Density of the gabions.
Density of submerged gabions