Loading Gabions

Bill at the controls of a Bobcat skid-steer loader is loading riprap into gabions. Two helpers are are handling final placement of the rocks. These structures will provide erosion control at the entry of four, five foot diameter culverts that direct flood water under a main road.

A gabion, from the Italian word gabbione, means "big cage" and the idea is not new. Leonardo da Vinci designed a type of gabion called a Corbeille Leonard ("Leonard[o] basket") for the foundations of the San Marco Castle in Milan. In a military context, earth- or sand-filled gabions are used to protect artillery crews from enemy fire.