Gabion Baskets & Walls — Installation across Canada

Gabion is the engineering category that doubles as architecture. The wire basket filled with stone is one of the oldest engineered retaining structures (Roman aqueducts used wicker-and-stone gabions) and one of the most contemporary architectural materials (gabion garden walls, gabion cladding, gabion benches all feature in 2020s landscape architecture). Fenced.ca supplies welded-mesh gabion baskets (rigid PVC-coated or galvanized wire welded at every intersection; the architectural choice for visible work), twisted-mesh (woven hexagonal) gabions (the engineering substrate for retaining walls and erosion control; flexible, ground-conforming, cheaper per ft³), gabion mattresses (thin gabions for slope-protection and channel-lining), and sack gabions (round vertical gabions for column-and-wall design).

Filling: gabion is engineered to be filled on-site with stone. On-site fill (excavated rock) is cheapest; quarry-run (limestone, granite, sandstone) is the engineering default; decorative fill (river rock, slate, recycled glass, even bottles for art-gabion) is the architectural choice. Fill stone must be larger than the mesh opening — typically 100–250 mm diameter for standard 100×100 mm mesh.

Retaining-wall engineering: gabion walls ≥ 1.2 m height require stamped engineering drawings — base preparation, drainage detail, geotextile separation behind the wall, fill specification, batter angle (typical 6° rear lean). Fenced.ca supplies engineered drawings as part of any commercial gabion-wall order.

Stone fill: Locally-sourced quarry stone, 150–250 mm graded, density ≥1500 kg/m³. Cost depends on quarry proximity — Ontario projects often use limestone from the Niagara Escarpment quarries; BC uses basalt from interior quarries. Avoid round river stone (slumps under load).

Wire grade: Galfan-coated (95% zinc + 5% aluminum) wire lasts 2-3× longer than standard galvanized in coastal and acid-rain environments. Maccaferri and Hesco are the dominant Canadian suppliers. Mesh aperture 80 mm × 100 mm for 2 m × 1 m × 1 m baskets is the standard retaining-wall format.

Engineering: Gabion retaining walls follow CSA S304 masonry-style design with geotextile drainage layer behind. Heights above 3 m require P.Eng-stamped structural drawings. Walls can be stepped for slope retention or vertical for property-line walls.

Pricing & lead time: Gabion pricing: 2 m × 1 m × 1 m basket runs $120–180 each empty, stone fill at $60–120 per ton delivered, installation labour at $80–150 per cubic metre. P.Eng-stamped drawings included for walls >3 m height. 2–4 week lead time for galvanized baskets; 6–8 weeks for Galfan-coated.