What is a Bridge Bearing?
A bridge bearing is a piece of structural equipment applied between the bridge superstructure and the foundation to provide absorption from external forces and safely transfer forces between the structures. The purpose of a bridge bearing is to allow controlled movement and reduce stress on the structure.
What are the different types of bridge bearings?
There are various types of bridge bearings:
- Slider bearings
- Curved bearings
- Rocker and pin bearings
Each of these types of bridge bearings consists of different functions and components to successfully transfer external forces.
What are the different functions?
Slider bearings often consist of two plates that sometimes require a PTFE lubricant to reduce friction. We would use flat expansion type bearings, lubricated bronze, or steel with PTFE. Slider bearings can only be used on bridges that span less than 15m or used in combination with other bearings. Flat plates feature a higher width-to-length ratio than liners and maximize lubrication. This is generally inserted by affixing it to the base plate with machine screws or constructing a nest on the base plate.
Curved bearings use a convex and concave plate to match. Curved bearings can either be spherical or cylindrical and often uses PTFE lubricant to reduce friction. The spherical design offers additional advantages of maintaining uniform load distribution where forces are variable in magnitude and direction.
Rocker and pin bearings are a type of expansion bearing consisting of 5 parts: Sole plate, pin, rocket assembly, pintle, and masonry plate. These bearings are often used in steel bridge structures, such as railway bridges. Rocker and pin bearings are a rare product for Lubrite.
Where are bridge bearings applicable?
Lubrite Technologies bearings are fit for a wide range of applications, such as:
- Bridges
- Hydroelectric
- Offshore
- Industrial
- Structural
- Nuclear
- Special applications
Why Lubrite Technologies?
At Lubrite Technologies, we have over 100 years of experience and expertise in creating custom bridge bearings that work as the ideal solution for your structural needs. In addition, we are the world leaders in the self-lubricating bearing market, requiring no maintenance or supplemental lubrication while maintaining a low coefficient of friction.
There are many different types of bridge bearings. At Lubrite Technologies, we can provide complete services in-house on all kinds of custom bridge bearings.
Our team of experts offers custom bridge bearings that feature our custom Lubrite features, such as:
- Complete self-lubrication
- Capacity to carry extremely heavy dynamic and static loads
- Elimination of supplementary lubrication
- Ability to operate dry or immersed
- Low coefficient of friction
- Elimination of maintenance
- Prevention of galling, scoring, and seizing
- High and low-temperature operation
- Design that prevents foreign matter contamination of bearing surfaces
- Choice of lubricant and bearing materials to minimize corrosion in hostile environments.
We can meet each of our customers’ exact needs in-house, saving you both time and money. With a legacy of knowledge and problem solving, we can work with your team to create a custom bridge bearing that will fit your exact needs while maintaining the same quality and reliability that Lubrite Technologies has offered for over 100 years.
Our Lubrite F® Expansion Bearings use PTFE self-lubricating sliding surfaces and Teflon® PTFE fibers to create a firm mechanical lock between the Teflon® fabric and the substrate, providing very high sheer resistance at the fabric/substrate interface. To learn more about our Lubrite F® Expansion Bearings, click here.
To request a quote for our custom bridge bearings, click here. To learn more about Lubrite Technologies’ structural bearings, click here.