--- title: "Mountain Engineering in Srinagar: A Case Study on Slope Stability Using Ocean Hexagonal Woven Double Twisted Gabion Boxes" date: 2025-10-06 author: "Sales Team" url: https://oceangeosynthetics.com/mountain-engineering-in-srinagar-using-gabion-boxes/ --- October 6, 2025 | [Case Studies](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/category/case-studies/), [Gabion Box](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/category/gabions/) # Mountain Engineering in Srinagar: A Case Study on Slope Stability Using Ocean Hexagonal Woven Double Twisted Gabion Boxes Ocean Non Wovens supplied and installed 1,000 units of Ocean Hexagonal Woven Double Twisted [Gabion Boxes](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/products/gabions/) for a mountain engineering project in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir. The gabions stabilise a steep slope along the Srinagar highway corridor, protect the base of the mountain road and reduce [erosion](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/solution/erosion-control/) near settlements. ## Project overview - **Location:** Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India - **Project type:** Mountain slope stabilisation and erosion control - **Product used:** Ocean Hexagonal Woven Double Twisted Gabion Box - **Quantity supplied:** 1,000 boxes - **Scope:** Supply and installation - **Objective:** prevent slope failure, protect the base of the mountain road and reduce erosion risk near settlement zones The project area was a steep section of the Srinagar [highway](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/suitable_sectors/road-highway/) corridor that regularly saw slope slips and minor landslides in the wet season. Existing masonry retaining walls nearby were showing distress from poor drainage and their rigid design. ## Engineering on Himalayan slopes The hills around Srinagar combine steep slopes, fragile geology, rain and snowmelt, which makes landslides and soil erosion common. Infrastructure here has to deal with: - **Erosion and slope instability** from rainfall and snowmelt - **Retaining wall failures** caused by water pressure building up behind solid walls - **Limited access** for heavy machinery on steep ground - **Environmental restrictions** in ecologically sensitive areas Solutions need to be light to transport, flexible and low-impact while still durable, which is the case for gabions. Retaining and breast walls on hill roads in India are covered by the Indian Roads Congress Hill Road Manual, IRC:SP:48-1998. ## Why gabions were chosen 1. **Flexibility:** gabion boxes can deform slightly without losing structural integrity, which suits ground that moves. 2. **Permeability:** water drains freely through the stone fill, so hydrostatic pressure does not build up behind the wall. This addresses the failure mode seen in the nearby masonry walls. 3. **Vegetation:** plants establish in the fill over time and help hold the slope. 4. **Ease of installation:** boxes are assembled by hand with local labour, cutting equipment and logistics costs on a site with poor access. ## Ocean Hexagonal Woven Double Twisted Gabion Box The boxes are made from galvanised or PVC-coated steel wire woven into a double-twisted hexagonal mesh. Each pair of wires is twisted together at every node, so if a wire is cut or broken locally, the mesh does not unravel. On a slope where falling rock can damage the face, that matters. ### Technical specifications - **Mesh type:** hexagonal, double twisted - **Mesh opening:** 60 × 80 mm or 80 × 100 mm, as per design - **Wire diameter:** 2.7–3.4 mm (galvanised or PVC coated) - **Wire tensile strength:** ≥ 380 N/mm² - **Coating life:** minimum 10–12 years in exposed conditions with PVC protection Double-twisted gabions are commonly specified to IS 16014 in India, or EN 10223-3 and ASTM A975 internationally, with zinc-coated steel wire to standards such as ASTM A641. ### Applications - Slope protection and erosion control - Retaining walls - Riverbank and streambed stabilisation - Road and embankment protection At Srinagar, the boxes were filled with locally sourced angular stone. Angular stone interlocks better than rounded stone, and the self-weight of the filled boxes resists soil and rock movement. ## Installation sequence 1. **Site preparation:** the unstable slope was cleared of debris, vegetation and loose soil, and drainage channels were cut to divert surface runoff. 2. **Foundation layer:** a geotextile separator was laid beneath the gabion foundation to stop soil migrating into the stone and to help drainage. Ocean Non Wovens [geotextile](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/products/geotextile-manufacturers/) was also used in some segments for added filtration. 3. **Assembly and placement:** the gabion boxes were assembled on site and laced together with binding wire into a continuous retaining structure. 4. **Stone filling:** locally quarried stone (100–200 mm) was placed in layers to keep the fill dense and minimise voids. 5. **Vegetative layer:** the top gabion layers were built with soil pockets so vegetation could establish and add long-term bio-stabilisation. In general practice, stone is placed in lifts with internal bracing wires tied across each cell, so the face does not bulge as the box is filled. ## Performance Through the 2024 monsoon season after completion, the structure drained well and flexed as intended. The slopes remained stable, with no signs of bulging or soil washout. - **Less slope erosion**, as observed in post-project site inspections - **Safer road**, with minor rockfalls and debris kept off the carriageway - **Lower maintenance**, since gabions need little upkeep compared with RCC structures Vegetation growing over the gabions has also softened the look of the structure and returned some habitat to the slope. ## Environmental and cost considerations Filling the gabions with local stone cut the transport, and the emissions that come with it. A gabion wall uses far less cement and steel than a concrete retaining wall, so its embodied carbon is lower, and it can be built with minimal machinery, which reduces disturbance on a sensitive hillside. For a contrasting site, see how Ocean’s [double twisted hexagonal wire mesh was supplied to a coal plant project in Singrauli](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/double-twisted-hexagonal-wire-mesh-coal-plant-singrauli/), where the challenge is monsoon runoff and loose fill rather than mountain slopes. ## Slope protection from Ocean Non Wovens At Srinagar, 1,000 Ocean Hexagonal Woven Double Twisted Gabion Boxes replaced a failure-prone rigid wall approach with a flexible, free-draining one. Ocean Non Wovens designs and manufactures geosynthetic products for Indian infrastructure, from gabions and geotextiles to [HDPE liners](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/products/ocean-geomembrane/high-density-polyethylene-sheets-hdpe/) and geogrids. For hill sites with loose rock above the road, see also our [rockfall protection](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/products/rockfall-protection/) systems. If your project involves slope stabilisation, erosion control or mountain infrastructure, talk to our team. 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