Gabion, noise barrier wall comprising such a gabion, and process for executing such a gabion

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10563371-B2
Application number	US-201716072042-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 3, 2017
Priority date	Mar 4, 2016
Publication date	Feb 18, 2020
Grant date	Feb 18, 2020

Abstract

The present invention concerns a gabion ( 1 ) comprising:
a cage ( 10 ) basically box-shaped, made up of a bottom ( 11 ), two frontal walls ( 12, 13 ) and two side walls ( 14, 15 ). That bottom, frontal and side walls are all formed from meshes respectively ( 11.1, 12.1, 13.1, 14.1, 15.1 ) that are fixed to each other; two compartmenting partitions ( 20, 30 ), that each connect the side walls to one other within the interior of the cage so that the internal volume (V 10 ) of the cage is divided into:
two frontal compartments (C 1 , C 2 ) that are each filled with a filler material ( 70 ) made up of aggregate that cannot pass through the respective meshes of the bottom, the frontal or the side walls, nor through the compartmenting partitions in such a way that it is retained within those frontal compartments, and an intermediate compartment (C 3 ), bounded by the compartmenting partitions and which is able to receive a granular acoustic insulation material ( 2 ); and at least one lifting partition ( 50, 60 ), that fixedly connects the frontal walls ( 12, 13 ) to each other within the cage extending through each of the frontal compartments and the intermediate compartment, which, opposite the bottom ( 11 ), is provided with at least one grab handle ( 51, 61 ), and which, for the part that is set out in the intermediate compartment, is suited to allowing the acoustic insulation material granules ( 2 ) to pass through it in such a way that the acoustic insulation material may spread freely, within the intermediate compartment, on either side of the lifting partition.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A gabion ( 1 ), comprising:
a cage ( 10 ) having a box-shape, the cage comprises a bottom ( 11 ), located at a base of the cage, two frontal walls ( 12 , 13 ), that are located on two opposite lateral sides of the cage, and two side walls ( 14 , 15 ), that are located on two other side walls of the cage, the bottom, the frontal walls and the side walls are formed respectively from meshes ( 11 . 1 , 12 . 1 , 13 . 1 , 14 . 1 , 15 . 1 ) that are fixed one to the other, and
two compartmenting partitions ( 20 , 30 ), which each fixedly connect the side walls to each other inside the cage in such a way that an internal volume (v 10 ) of each cage is split into:
two frontal compartments (C 1 , C 2 ), which are bounded respectively between one ( 12 ) of the frontal walls and one ( 20 ) of the two compartmenting partitions that is closest to that frontal wall and between the other frontal wall ( 13 ) and the other compartmenting partition ( 30 ), and which are each filled with a filler material ( 70 ) made up of aggregates that are too large to pass through holes of the meshes of the bottom, the frontal walls and the side walls respectively, nor through the compartmenting partitions, in such a way that it is retained within those frontal compartments, and
an intermediate compartment (C 3 ), which is bounded between the compartmenting partitions and which is able to receive granular acoustic insulation material ( 2 ),

wherein the gabion ( 1 ) further comprises at least one lifting partition ( 50 , 60 ):
fixedly connecting the frontal walls ( 12 , 13 ) to each other within the cage by extending through each of the frontal compartments (C 1 , C 2 ) and the intermediate compartment (C 3 ),
being opposite the bottom ( 11 ), fitted with at least one grab handle ( 51 , 61 ), and
being, for the part laid out in the intermediate compartment, adapted in order to enable the granular acoustic insulation material ( 2 ) to pass through it in order that the granular acoustic insulation material may spread freely, within the intermediate compartment (C 3 ), on either side of the lifting partition ( 50 , 60 ).

2. The gabion of claim 1 , wherein the filler material ( 70 ) comprises at least one of:
crushed stone,
building site rubble,
clinker,
crushed glass,
pieces of timber, of plastics, of composites, marble, chalk, limestone, dolomite or barium,
granules of natural calcium carbonate or of precipitated calcium carbonate, that has undergone a surface reaction with carbon dioxide and one or more acids, with the carbon dioxide being formed in situ by the action of the acids and/or derived from an outside source, or
a mixture thereof.

3. The gabion of claim 1 , wherein the lifting partition ( 50 , 60 ) comprises:
a flat mesh ( 50 . 1 , 60 . 1 );
wherein the grab handle(s) are fixed ( 51 , 61 ) to the flat mesh;
wherein being fixed to the meshes ( 11 . 1 , 12 . 1 , 13 . 1 ) of the bottom ( 11 ) and of the frontal walls ( 12 , 13 ) respectively, and wherein the flat mesh ( 50 . 1 , 60 . 1 ) extends through each of the frontal compartments (C 1 , C 2 ) and the intermediate compartment (C 3 ); and
wherein grains of the granular acoustic insulation material ( 2 ) can pass through holes in the flat mesh so as to spread either side of the lifting partition ( 50 , 60 ).

4. The gabion of claim 3 , wherein each compartmenting partition ( 20 , 30 ) comprises at least two flat meshes ( 20 . 1 , 20 . 2 , 20 . 3 , 20 . 4 , 30 . 1 , 30 . 2 , 30 . 3 , 30 . 4 ), fixed to the mesh ( 50 . 1 , 60 . 1 ) of each lifting partition ( 50 , 60 ), being laid out respectively on either side of that lifting partition.

5. The gabion of claim 4 , wherein each mesh ( 20 . 1 , 20 . 2 , 20 . 3 , 20 . 4 , 30 . 1 , 30 . 2 , 30 . 3 , 30 . 4 ) of each compartmenting partition ( 20 , 30 ) is fixed to the mesh ( 11 . 1 ) of the bottom ( 11 ), and that each of the two meshes ( 20 . 1 , 20 . 4 , 30 . 1 , 30 . 4 ) in each compartmenting partition, which respectively abut the side walls ( 14 , 15 ), is fixed to the mesh ( 14 . 1 , 15 . 1 ) of the corresponding side wall.

6. The gabion of claim 4 , wherein each compartmenting partition ( 20 , 30 ) also comprises for each of the meshes ( 20 . 1 , 20 . 2 , 20 . 3 , 20 . 4 , 30 . 1 , 30 . 2 , 30 . 3 , 30 . 4 ) in that compartmenting partition, a sheet of geotextile or of geo-synthetic material, that covers an entire face of the mesh turned towards the intermediate compartment and that is suited to preventing the acoustic insulation material crossing that mesh from that intermediate compartment (C 3 ).

7. The gabion of claim 1 , wherein at least two grab handles ( 51 , 61 ) are provided for each lifting partition ( 50 , 60 ), shared across the frontal walls.

8. The gabion of claim 1 , wherein at least two lifting partitions ( 50 , 60 ) are provided, shared across the side walls.

9. The gabion of claim 8 , wherein the gabion further comprises a diaphragm partition ( 40 ):
fixedly connecting the frontal walls ( 12 , 13 ) to each other within the cage extending through each of the frontal compartments (C 1 , C 2 ) and the intermediate compartment (C 3 ),
being, for the part that is laid out within the intermediate compartment, suited to let the granular acoustic insulation material ( 2 ) pass through it so that the acoustic insulation material may spread freely, within the intermediate compartment (C 3 ), on either side of the diaphragm partition ( 40 ), and
on either side of which at least two lifting partitions are set out ( 50 , 60 ).

10. A method of using at least one gabion according to claim 1 ,
wherein the method comprises, for each gabion ( 1 , 1 ′, 1 ″):
a movement step, during the course of which the gabion is moved from an initial position, where the frontal compartments (C 1 , C 2 ) of the gabion are filled with the filler material ( 70 ), before the movement step, to a final position, where the gabion is definitively permanently installed, the gabion being lifted at least once between its initial position and its final position by hooking up and dragging on its grab handles ( 51 , 61 ); and
a filling step, which is executed after the movement step and during which granular acoustic insulation material ( 2 ) is poured into the intermediate compartment (C 3 , C 3 ′, C 3 ″) of the gabion in its final position, spreading through the intermediate compartment including through at least one of the lifting partitions ( 50 , 60 ), until it at least partly fills that intermediate compartment.

11. A noise barrier wall,
wherein the noise barrier wall comprises at least one gabion ( 1 , 1 ′, 1 ″) of claim 1 , in addition to a granular acoustic insulation material ( 2 ) which at least partially fills the intermediate compartment (C 3 , C 3 ′, C 3 ″) of each gabion.

12. The noise barrier wall of claim 11 , wherein the acoustic insulation material comprises:
a sand and gravel mix,
concrete,
crushed building site rubble,
crushed mining operation waste debris,
crushed pieces of marble, chalk, limestone, dolomite or barium,
granules of natural calcium carbonate or precipitated calcium carbonate, that has undergone a surface reaction with carbon dioxide and one or more acids, the carbon dioxide being formed in situ by the action of the acid(s) and/or from an outside source, or
a mixture thereof.

13. The noise barrier wall of claim 11 , wherein it further comprises:
at least two gabions ( 1 , 1 ′) which are, at least for part of each of them, stacked on top of each other in such a way that their respective intermediate compartments (C 3 , C 3 ′) of those gabio

Assignees

• Omya Int Ag

Inventors

• Dabos François

Classifications

• E01F8/025 Primary

  Gabion-type · CPC title

• E01B19/003

  Means for reducing the development or propagation of noise · CPC title

• E02D29/025

  made up of similar modular elements stacked without mortar · CPC title

• E02D29/0208 Primary

  Gabions · CPC title

• E02D29/02

  Retaining or protecting walls (piers or quay walls E02B3/06) · CPC title