Abstract
The condition of initial movement far the river bank protection using rip rap is a limit condition beyond which the lining is progressively destroyed as the separate elements are removed by the flow. In the case of the river bank protection using gabion mattress, however, after the initial movement the containment offered by the mesh remains. A new situation of equilibrium with a deformed river bank protection using gabion mattress is obtained, allowing it to withstand more severe conditions without compromising the resistance and without further deformation. Shield's coefficient for the river bank protection using gabion mattress is twice the value of that fur river bank protection using rip rap. This means that with the same hydraulic behavior conditions, the average dimension of the rocks to be used in the river bank protection using gabion mattress is half that of river bank protection using rip rap rock. When the same size rocks are used the allowable velocity for the river bank protection using gabion mattress is more than twice, even as much as 3 or 4 times that for river bank protection using rip rap.
