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Whoever is travelling today by car or train has most
certainly noticed one of the many
gabion walls along the roadsides or railway lines.
Mainly their purpose is to stabilise slopes or
protect from noise. Contrary
to the traditional type of walls,
gabions, reinforced earth and earth bonded constructions
are ideal building materials as they are inexpensive and
very versatile in their use.
Using them is usually significantly cheaper than applying
traditional construction methods.
From a decorative and ecological
point of view gabions
present ideal building materials. If the visible elevation
is filled with natural stones from the region, recycling
materials or building brick for example one can achieve an
aesthetically pleasing effect for the whole project.
The chinks and hollow spaces of the
gabion walls offer living space to many species. When
used for riverbanks amphibians like to use the stone baskets
as living space. Proper planting of the walls increases the
ecological value considerably.
Gabions stand for a modern,
ecological and economically sensible construction method
that can hardly be improved upon. |
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