GB2485212A

GB2485212A - Gabion system

Info

Publication number: GB2485212A
Application number: GB201018719A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Heselden
Original assignee: Hesco Bastion Ltd
Current assignee: Hesco Bastion Ltd
Priority date: 2010-11-05
Filing date: 2010-11-05
Publication date: 2012-05-09
Also published as: GB201018719D0; WO2012059769A2; WO2012059769A3

Abstract

A gabion system 100 comprising a wall member 105 and a stanchion member 101 respectively supporting mutually complementary interengagement formations interengageable with each other for assembling the wall member and stanchion member to form a wall assembly. The formations are configured to be movable with respect to each other to inhibit disengagement from each other when the wall assembly is in use. The formations may be a tongue and groove, snap lock, screw or other cooperation means.

Description

GabionSystem

Field

The present invention relates to a gabion system for building walls. More particularly, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to a system for forming gabions to create walled enclosures for fortification.

Background

There exists a need in many environments to quickly and safely erect walls and walled enclosures. These environments may be war-zones or they may occur at any event at or for which fortification may be required. The need may also arise where seawalls need to be built or for the harnessing of landslides.

Such walls and walled enclosures may be required to withstand substantial loading which may come from hostile sources such as weaponry or other sources such as elemental forces and human traffic.

WO-A-90112160 relates to wire mesh cage structures that may be useful as gabions. The cage structures comprise pivotally interconnected open mesh work frames connected together under factory conditions so that the cage can fold concertina-wise to take a flattened form for transportation to site, where it may be erected to take an open multi-compartmental form for filling with a suitable fill material, such as sand, soil, earth or rocks.

WO-A-OO/40810 relates to a multi-compartmental gabion which folds concertina-wise for transportation, and which comprises side walls extending along the length of the multi-compartmental gabion, the side walls being connected at spaced intervals along the length of the gabion by partition walls which are formed from two releasably connected sections, which after use of the gabion can be released and the gabion unzipped for recovery purposes.

Gabions frequently comprise a wire mesh cage structure lined with a geotextile material. The lining adds to the cost and complexity of the gabion structure and may constitute a limitation on the functionality of the gabion after deployment over a long period of time, weakening the functionality of the gabion. Gabions such as those referred to above are often deployed in harsh, demanding environments where the geotextile material is highly likely to be damaged, degrade or be comprised in some other way, weakening the functionality of the gabion. For example, degradation of the geotextile material can lead, over time, to rips, tears or holes in the material, through which the gabion fill material can fall.

The Hesco Blastbloc® product (Wa-A-i 0/11659) provides a gabion system to establish a barrier in order to protect military or civilian installations from what may be improved explosive devices (IEDs); mortar/rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) or small arms fire.

However, the Hesco Blastbloc® product includes hinges between wall members for coupling wall members together. Aligning the hinges is a relatively complex operation and is time consuming. This is disadvantageous in an environment where construction as fast as possible is desirable.

Construction of walls or walled enclosures using Gabions such as the Hesco Blastbloc® product is intended to be simple. Such products may provide easily transportable apparatus to establish fortification of an installation to protect the installation from an attack from a hostite or elemental force. The complexity of establishing constructions using these products is varied.

As described hereafter, embodiments of the invention were devised with the foregoing in mind and may provide advantages not hitherto contemplated or possible with known constructions.

Summary

Viewed from one aspect there is provided a gabion system comprising a wall member and a stanchion member respectively supporting mutually complementary interengagement formations interengageable with each other for assembling the wall member and stanchion member to form a gabion assembly, the formations configured to be movable with respect to each other to inhibit disengagement from each other when the gabion assembly is in use.

Such a system may be used to bring the wall member and the stanchion member into engagement to form a wall section. Plural wall sections may be brought into engagement to form one or more walled enclosures.

In an embodiment, the formations are configured to be movable into interlocking engagement when the gabion assembly is in use. In particular, the formations are movable responsive to a load applied to a wall member. Such an arrangement may convey the load on a wall member to an interengagement member of the wall member to urge that interengagement member into interlocking engagement with an engagement member of a stanchion member.

Typically, the load is provided by loose material for example soil, rock, stone, ice, sand disposed against a wall member, but optionally or additionally may be provided by a buttress member.

The wall system may be configurable to form a walled enclosure, for example in the form of a polygon. In one example the walled enclosure may be arranged to have fill material placed within the walled enclosure, for example loose material such as mentioned above.

Optionally or additionally, buttresses may be used to provide a load against the wall members.

The wall member may be made from a resilient material. Optionally, the wall member may be made from a rigid material. A wall member may have a part made from rigid material and another part made from a resilient member.

One or more wall members may be substantially laminar. Optionally or additionally, one or more wall members are substantially non-laminar. For example, one or more wall members may comprise formations arranged to deflect missiles or projectiles.

A formation may comprise a receiving cavity for receiving a complementary formation thereby providing an arrangement which may interengage.

The stanchion member may comprise at least two formations to receive complementary formations of one or more wall members. The at least two formations may be on the same side of a stanchion member or on different sides.

One or other or both of complementary formations may be configured such that the complementary formations may be urged into interengagement during assembly of a gabion assembly. For example, the complementary formations may cooperate to provide a push fit or snap-lock configuration.

The stanchion member may comprise attachable weighting and/or support elements to maintain an upright position.

The wall member and/or the stanchion member may be made from any suitable material for example polycarbonate.

A wall member may have any suitable configuration for forming a wall and may be configured to enhance its strength. For example, one or more of the wall members may have a semi-circular cross section, a concertinaed cross section or a corrugated cross section.

One of the complementary formations may form an arrow-head. An arrow head shape may promote interlocking of the complementary formations and inhibit their disengagement.

The wall and/or the stanchion member may be formed from a heat resistant material and/or a frost resistant material so that the wall system may be resilient to hostile climates.

Optionally, the wall member is formed from a mesh panel which may provide for lighter wall members compared to the use of solid panels.

The stanchion member may be of a constant cross-section such that there are no relatively weak points where the stanchion is narrower than in other regions.

The stanchion may have a relatively small cross-sectional area.

A corrugated wall panel may be disposed between two substantially laminar wall panels to form a reinforced wall member to increase the strength and/or rigidity of the wall member.

List of Figures One or more embodiments in accordance with the invention will move now be described by way of example only, and with reference to accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. I illustrates a rectangular walled enclosure; Fig. 2 illustrates an X-shaped walled enclosure; Fig. 3 illustrates a triangular walled enclosure; Fig. 4 illustrates a wall member; Fig. 5 illustrates a wall member with a curved cross-sectional profile; Fig. 6 illustrates a wall member with a substantially non-laminar surface; Fig. 7 illustrates an example of a stanchion member; Fig. 8 illustrates further examples of the shapes and cross-sectional configurations that the stanchion member may take.

Fig. 9 illustrates an example wall member and a stanchion member in interengagement; Fig. 10 illustrates a stanchion member with a small cross sectional area; Fig. 11 a illustrates a stanchion member with support means; Fig. 11 b illustrates a stanchion member with weighting means; Fig. 12 illustrates an example of interlocking engagement fora rigid wall member; Fig. 13 illustrates an example of interlocking engagement for a resilient wall member; Fig. 14 illustrates a further example of interlocking engagementfora resilient wall member; Fig. 15 illustrates an example wall-building system with two components; Fig. 16 illustrates a rectangular walled enclosure; Fig. 17 illustrates an X-shaped walled enclosure; Fig. 18 illustrates a triangular walled enclosure; Fig. 19 illustrates an example of a layered wall member wherein a concertinaed wall member is disposed between two laminar wall members; Fig. 20 illustrates an example of an arrowhead shaped mutually interlocking engagement member without loading; and Fig. 21 illustrates an example of an arrowhead shaped mutually interlocking engagement member with loading;

Description

In general overview one or more embodiments provide a wall building system which provides for the simple erection of walls and walled enclosures which may accommodate fill materials in environments where fortification may be required to protect, for example, military or civilian installations against external force.

Typically, a wall building system may comprise two types of components; wall members and stanchion members which may be arranged to interengage with each other and interlock under force being applied to the wall member. Interlocking may be achieved through interengagement formations which may be integrally formed with the stanchion member and the wall member.

In an embodiment, the load of a material on a wall member is conveyed to an interengagement formation to urge the interengagement formation into interlocking engagement with an interlocking complementary interengagement formation integrally formed on a stanchion member.

A plurality of wall members and stanchion members may be used to form a walled enclosure or a series of walled enclosures. Each enclosure may be po'gonal e.g. triangular, hexagonal, rectangular or pentagonal. The walled enclosure should enclose a space to receive fill material. The wall members and stanchion members may also be assembled in a linear fashion to form a wall without forming enclosures.

Examples of walled enclosures are given in Figs. 1 -3.

The wall section 100 illustrated in figure 1 comprises the stanchion members 101, 102, 103, 104, lO9and ll0supportingwall members 105, 106,107,108,111, ll2and 113. The stanchion members and wall members are set out to form a series of rectangular enclosures. The enclosures need not be the same size. Further wall members and stanchions may be added to extend the wall section.

Another configuration of walled enclosure 200 is illustrated in figure 2. This configuration is similar to the rectangular configuration illustrated in figure 1 but further includes stanchion members 201 and 214 placed in the centre of each rectangular enclosure. Further wall members 202, 203, 204, and 205 extend from perimeter stanchion members to the central stanchion member 201. Likewise, wall members 215, 216, 217 and 218 extend from perimeter stanchion members to the central stanchion member 214. Wall section 200 may be more rigid the wall section 100 by virtue of the further supporting walls extending across the interior of the enclosure. Again, further sections may be added to wall section 200 to extend it.

Wall section 300 illustrated in figure 3 is made up of a series of triangular walled enclosures.

The stanchion members 301, 302 and 303 support wall members 304, 305 and 306 to form a first triangular section. Further wall members 308 and 309 respectively extend from stanchion member 302 and 303 to stanchion member 307 to form a second triangular section. This pattern is repeated to form section 300.

Such walled enclosures may be connected in series to form long chains of walled enclosures. Such walled enclosures are suitable for establishing around military or civilian installations to provide protection against IEDs or RPGs.

An example of a wall member is illustrated in figure 4. The wall member 400 may be laminar and may extend longitudinally or latitudinally to the interengagement members 401.

Optionally, the wall member may have a curved cross-sectional profile 501 and/or comprise a corrugated 502 or concertinaed surface or a combination thereof, as shown in figure 5. A curved cross sectioned profile may serve to deflect missiles and/or projectiles, whilst the corrugated profile may do likewise it may also have greater rigidity and strength due to the corrugated structure. It is also possible that the walled member may be a substantially non-laminar member 600 as shown in figure 6 where the non-laminar surface is formed of additional layers 601 disposed over at least part of the surface of the wall member. The additional layers may simply be further layers of the wall member material or they could perform some function in an active or passive way. Comprised in the additional layers may be a sensor to detect strain or exposure to some substance. Alternatively, the additional layers may be configured to absorb loading onto the wall member.

The wall member may be made from a resilient material or a rigid material. Examples of suitable materials are plastic, metal, or a composition of plastic and metal.

In an embodiment, the wall member may be a mesh panel of constant or varying mesh density. A combination of a mesh panel and a fabric such as, for example, Geotex'TM, could also be used to construct the wall member.

In an embodiment, the wall member may be made from polycarbonate. Polycarbonate may be an advantageous choice of material for the wall member as it is easily worked, moulded and thermoformed. Polycarbonate also exhibits useful temperature resistance and impact resistance properties. Polycarbonate is also highly transparent to visible light, with higher light transmission properties than many kinds of glass.

Both the wall and the stanchion members may be made from a material with high heat resistance to minimise long term environmental degradation. The material from which the wall and/or the stanchion members are made should be at least configured to be resistant to a selection of environmental conditions such as high environmental pressure, high environmental humidity, environmental erosion, high temperatures and frost or combinations thereof.

In another example, the wall member may be made of an acoustically insulating material in order to reduce acoustic propagation through the walled enclosure.

The material from which the panels and the stanchions are comprised will preferably be lightweight for transportation and erection purposes. However, the material must be strong enough to withstand substantial loading from, for example, IEDs or RPGs.

As illustrated in figure 7, a receiving cavity may comprise a channel 702 extending inwards from the exterior of the stanchion member to a larger region 703, hereinafter called the "engagement region", dimensioned appropriately to receive the mutually complimentary interlocking engagement formation of a wall member.

There is no requirement for all of the stanchion members in a wall or walled enclosure to be identical either in cross-sectional area or in cross-sectional geometry. Indeed, it may even be advantageous in some environments to use a mixture of cross-sectional geometries and cross-sectional areas. A cross-sectional geometry may be selected to provide a corresponding number of sides to the number of wall members that will be fitted to it.

The stanchion members may have any suitable cross-section, for example, circular, rectangular, triangular, or other polygonal shape.

A hexagonal cross-section with four receiving cavities (801) is one example of a stanchion member that may be used, a diamond-shaped cross-section (802) with just two receiving cavities facing in opposing directions is another example that may be used and a rectangular configuration with two transversally disposed receiving cavities (803) is another example that may be used, An example of a stanchion member in accordance with one embodiment is illustrated in figure 9. The stanchion member 900 has four receiving cavities 901 for receiving an interengagement member of a wall member 902. Figure 9 illustrates an example of an engagement region 903 accommodating an illustrative engagement formation 902 in a stanchion member 900. In figure 9, the other three engagement regions (901) are vacant, but in many implementations two, three or even all of the engagement regions 901 will be accommodating the engagement formation of a corresponding wall member.

Another example of the cross-sectional geometry that may be used is shown in Fig. 10. In the arrangement illustrated in figure 10 the receiving cavities 1001 take up a far greater proportion of the cross-sectional area of stanchion 1000 than is the case for the arrangement illustrated in figure 9. The proportion of the cross-sectional area taken up by the receiving cavites will affect the strength and load-bearing capability of the stanchion member. The proportion may be varied in accordance with the load on the wall members that the station member is expected to bear and also the strength of the material from which the stanchion member is formed. A person of ordinary skill in the art will readily be able to select a stanchion material and design the receiving cavities appropriately.

Both the wall and the stanchion members may be made from a material with high heat and/or cold resistance to minimise long term environmental degradation. The material from which the wall and/or the stanchion members are made should be resistant to a selection of environmental conditions such as high environmental pressure, high environmental humidity, environmental erosion and frost or combinations thereof.

In an optional embodiment the interengagement formation need not be integrally formed with a wall member but may be separately formed and then fixed to the wall member. Likewise, a receiving cavity need not be integrally formed with the stanchion member but separately formed and fixed to the stanchion member ready for use. The stanchion member may be made from a resilient material or a rigid material. Examples may be a plastic, a metal or a combination of both. Other examples include hard rubber.

Polycarbonate may be an advantageous choice of material for the stanchion member as it is easily worked, moulded and thermoformed. Polycarbonate also exhibits useful temperature resistance and impact resistance properties. Polycarbonate is also highly transparent to visible light, with higher light transmission properties than many kinds of glass.

In an embodiment the stanchion member may be made from a lightweight material with a relatively small cross-sectional area as illustrated in figure 10. Stanchions with relatively small cross-sectional areas may be advantageous for transportation and packaging reasons.

As is evident from figure 10, the receiving cavities 1001 may occupy a large amount of space within the stanchion 1000. The amount of space occupied by the receiving cavities in the stanchion may be in excess of 50% of the overall volume of the stanchion, but could be less than 50% of the volume depending on the design constraints, for example based on the load likely to be applied to the wall member when in use. The person of ordinary skill in the art will be able to take into account the strength of the stanchion material and load which will be applied to it to select an appropriate proportion of a stanchion cross-section taken up by the receiving cavities.

In an embodiment the stanchion members may be formed through an extrusion process to maintain a constant cross-sectional profile. Examples of materials which may be formed into the stanchion through extrusion are metal, polymer, ceramic and concrete. The extrusion may be hot or cold. Extrusion allows for the formation of very complex cross-sections which may be configured for purpose. The cross-section can be matched to the static, dynamic and structural requirements of the wall member. Extrusion also enables the stanchion members to be made from lightweight materials which may otherwise be brittle and not suitable for formation into a stanchion member with a potentially complex cross section.

The stanchion member may be free-standing, but may also have additional weighting and/or support to maintain an upright position in use as shown in Figs 11 a) and b). The support 1102 orweighting 1103 may be unitary with the stanchion member ilOla, ilOib or attachable to the stanchion member.

In the construction of the wall or walled enclosure, the mutually interlocking engagement members are placed into cooperation by placement of the interengagement member into cooperation with the stanchion member.

Various configurations of establishing cooperation may be a snap-lock mechanism, magnetic connection, tongue and groove, a screw which is received in the stanchion through a helical cavity configured to cooperate with the screw or VelcroTM. The configuration for establishing cooperation will depend on the environment in which the wall or walled enclosure is to be erected or the type and function of the loading which is expected to be applied to the wall.

In an example embodiment given in figure 12, if a load 1201 is conveyed by a material along a rigid wall member 1202, the interengagement member 1203 will move into engagement with the stanchion member 1204 in at least substantially the same direction as the load.

In an example embodiment given in figure 13, if a load 1301 is conveyed by a material along a resilient wall member 1302, the interengagement member 1303 will move into engagement with the stanchion member 1304 in at least substantially the opposite direction as the load, as shown in figure 13.

In the embodiment illustrated in figure 12, the receiving cavity in stanchion member 1204 is dimensioned to enable relatively easy interengagement, for example slideable engagement, to assist in the assembly of wall sections. The receiving cavity is configured to restrain the interengagement formation member 1203 on wall member 1202 in a direction transverse to the direction (slidable) of engagement. Thus, relatively easy engagement may be achieved yet the wall member is retained in the stanchion when in use.

A load 1201 applied to a wall member 1202, for example by a fill material and/or by a buttress member will cause the wall member at 1202 to move thereby moving the interengagement formation within the receiving cavity. Movement of a rigid wall member in 1202 will cause the interengagement formation 1203 to move within the receiving cavity in substantially the same direction as the movement of the rigid wall and cause the interengagement formation to contact an interior wall of the receiving cavity.

Referring to figure 13, the wall member 1302 is made of a resilient material and the interengagement formation 1303 may move within the receiving cavity in substantially the opposite direction as the movement of the wall member itself again moving towards contact with an interior wall of the receiving cavity. Thus, the complimentary configuration of the receiving cavity and interengagement formation cause the interengagement formation to move towards an interlocking engagement when they will member is placed under a load 1301 transverse to its major surface. Thus, the greater the load on the wall the greater the inter-locking engagement.

In an optional embodiment, the material in which the receiving cavity is formed and/or the interengagement formation on wall may be of sufficiently resilient material such that the interengagement formation may be urged into engagement with the receiving cavity by deflecting one, either or both of the material of the interengagement formation and receiving cavity.

The illustrated configurations act to support a wall member in a stanchion member even when the wall member is not under a load, Furthermore, the wall member may be supported when it is in interengagement with just one stanchion member. This further assists with ease of assembly since a single person could assemble a wail section.

A material applying load to a wall member may be a fill material placed within a walled enclosure or a material disposed against a wall member or a material as the result of, for example, a hostile force. Examples of the material could be particulate material such as sand and gravel. The material could also be a fluid or a mixture of fluid and particulate material.

A material may apply loading to the wall member. An example is shown in figure 14 in which material 1402 is shown disposed against the wall member 1400, causing a load to be applied. Under the load, the wall member 1400 is urged into interlocking engagement with a stanchion member through the movement of the interengagement formation from its position 1401 to position 1403 as a result of the flexing of the resilient wall member 1400.. A plurality of wall and stanchion members may be used in series to build a wall. The wall may be used, say, as a flood barrier or a barrier against an avalanche.

The material may be of a particulate consistency such as, for example, sand or soil.

Alternatively, the fill material may be a contained fluid. The fill material may be of a solid consistency or may comprise a plurality of component fill materials such as a particulate material in suspension in a fluid or a composition of many solid materials, wherein many includes at least 2.

A fill material, placed within a walled enclosure is an example of a material which may apply load to a wall member to cause interlocking engagement to occur. A combination of a walled enclosure with the fill material will create a strong, multi-layered wall which may be used to protect civilian or military installations.

The fill material may be of a particulate consistency such as, for example, sand or soil.

Generally, the material will be dictated at least partly by the availability of suitable materials at the deployment site. Suitable materials may include, but are not limited to, sand, earth, soil, stones, rocks, rubble, concrete, debris, snow, ice and/or combinations of two or more thereof.

The material may be contained in a large bag, a so-called "big-bag". The "big-bag" may comprise a large linen bag with handles which allow for simple elevation using a crane or other construction equipment The material may also be fluid contained in a container. The fluid may comprise numerous components such as a particulate solid in suspension which allows for simple elevation using a crane or other heavy construction equipment Figure 15 shows an example of a wall building system 1500 that may comprise at least two inter-engageable components: a wall member 1501 and a stanchion member 1502. The wall member 1501 and the stanchion member 1502 may be urged into engagement to form walled enclosures.

An example embodiment is illustrated in figure 16. A rectangular walled enclosure 1600, using four 1601-1604, not necessarily identical stanchion members connecting four wall members 1605-1608 is shown. The term rectangle here is understood generally to mean a four-sided shape with four interior right-angles. It is accepted, however, that rhombus and parallelogram shaped walled enclosures are also within the scope of this example.

In another example embodIment given in figure 17, a stanchion member 1701 is placed centrally with four wall members 1702-1 705, extending outwardly from the central stanchion member 1701. Further stanchion members 1706-1709 are placed at the end of the outwardly extending wall members. Wall members 1710-1713 are then engaged with the outer stanchion members 1706-1709 to connect the four outer stanchion members. Such a configuration is advantageous due to the high structural strength of the X-shape framework.

A series of rectangular walled enclosures may be provided.

Another example embodiment is given in figure 18. Stanchion members 1801-1803 are placed into engagement with wall members 1804-1806 to form a triangle shaped walled enclosure. A series of triangular enclosures can be built by repeating this step.

Another example embodiment may use a concertinaed or corrugated panel as the wall member. Such configurations can provide additional structural strength to the wall member and can also act as a reflective medium for acoustic waves.

In another example embodiment, given in figure 19, two laminar wall 1901, 1902 members may be used either side of a corrugated wall member 1903 to provide a stronger, more rigid wall member. In this example, the stanchion members 1905, 1906 would need to be modified to include at least three receiving cavities 1907 on each face.

In another example embodiment, the interengagement member is in the form of an arrow-head based tongue and groove arrangement, as shown in figure 20. In this embodiment, a wall member 2001 with an interengagement member 2002 are slidably engaged or push fittable to the stanchion 2003 to bring them into cooperative engagement with the stanchion 2003, but it will be appreciated thatother engagement mechanisms may be implemented.

When a load 2101 is placed onto the wall member 2102, the load is conveyed along the wall member 2102 and the load is distributed through the shape of the arrowhead 2103 around the stanchion member 2104 as the arrowhead is urged into interlocking engagement with the stanchion member 2104.

As used herein, the terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes", "has", "having" or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, a method, article or apparatus. Further, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, "or" refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false(or not present) and B is true(or present), and both A and B are true (or present).

In addition, use of the "a" or "an" are employed to describe elements and components of the invention. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the invention.

The description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.

The scope of the present disclosure includes any novel feature or combination of features disclosed therein either explicitly or implicitly or any generalisation thereof irrespective of whether or not it relates to the claimed invention or mitigate against any or all of the problems addressed by the present invention. The applicant hereby gives notice that new claims may be formulated to such features during prosecution of this application or of any such further application derived therefrom. In particular, with reference to the appended claims, features from dependent claims may be combined with those of the dependent claims and features from respective independent claims may be combined in any appropriate manner and not merely in specific combinations enumerated in the claims.

Claims

Claims 1. A system comprising a wall member and a stanchion member respectively supporting mutually complementary interengagement formations interengageable with each other for assembling the wall member and stanchion member to form a wall assembly, the formations configured to be movable with respect to each other to inhibit disengagement from each other when the wall assembly is in use.
2. A wall system according to claim 1, wherein the formations are configured to be movable into interlocking engagement when the wall assembly is in use.An arrangement according to Claim 1 wherein a second interengagement member mechanically coupled to the stanchion member is used to bring the wall member and the stanchion member into interlocking engagement to form at least one walled enclosure.
3. A wall system according to claimi or 2, wherein the formations are movable responsive to a load applied to a wall member.
4. A wall system according to claim 3, wherein the load is provided by loose material.
5. A wall system according to any preceding claim configurable to form a walled enclosure.
6. An arrangement according to Claim 5, wherein the walled enclosure forms a polygon.
7. A wall system according to claim 5 dependent on claim 4 or claim 6, wherein said load is provided by fill material placed within the walled enclosure.
8. A wall system according to any preceding claim, wherein the wall member is made from a resilient material.
9. A wall system according to any of claim 1 to 8, wherein the wall member is made from a rigid material.
10. A wall system according to any preceding claim wherein the wall member is substantially laminar.
11. A wall system according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the member is substantially non-laminar.
12. A wall system according to any preceding claim, wherein a formation comprise a receiving cavity for receiving a complementary formation.
13. A wall system according to any preceding claim, wherein the stanchion member comprises at least two formations to receive complementary formations of one or more wall members.
14. A wall system according to any preceding claim, wherein cooperation between the complementary interengagement members is achieved through a snap-lock configuration.
15. A wall system according to any preceding claim, wherein the stanchion member further comprises attachable weighting and/or support means to maintain an upright position.
16. A wall system according to any preceding claim, wherein the wall member and/or the stanchion member are made from polycarbonate.
17. A wall system according to any preceding claim, wherein the wall member has a semi-circular cross section.
18. A wall system according to any one of claim ito 16, wherein the wall member has a concertinaed cross section.
19. A wall system according to any one of claim 1 to 16, wherein the wall member has a corrugated cross section.
20. A wall system according to any preceeding Claim wherein a said complementary formation forms an arrow-head.
21. A wall system according to any preceding claim, wherein the wall and/or the stanchion member are formed from a heat resistant material.
22. A wall system according to any preceding claim,wherein the wall and/or the stanchion member are formed from a frost resistant material.
23. A wall system according to any preceding claim,wherein the wall member is formed from a mesh panel.
24. A wall system according to any preceding Claim, wherein the stanchion member is of a constant cross-section.
25. A wall system according to any preceding Claim, wherein the stanchion has a relatively small cross-sectional area.
26. A wall system according to any preceding claim, further comprising a corrugated wall panel configured to be disposed between two substantially laminar wall panels.
27. A wall member for a wall system according to any preceding claim, comprising an interengagement formation.
28. A stanchion for a wall system according to any of claims 1 to 28, comprising an interengagement formation.