Trelleborg Elastomeric Bridge Bearings and Tunnel Seals

Trelleborg designs, manufactures and supplies structural bearings and expansion joints for bridges and viaducts. As with the whole range of Trelleborg products, the structural bearings are designed according to the latest international standards.

Structural bearings for bridges and viaducts

Structural bearings are used as structural components to provide flexible support for concrete panels, bridges and viaducts. These bearings need to transmit loads and accommodate horizontal movements and rotations around each axis that can occur between two structures. Design analyses will determine the scale of the forces and deformations.

Bridge expansion joints

Trelleborg Transflex bridge expansion joints span the space between the decking and the abutments on viaducts and bridges. Transflex is supplied in modules of a specified length and are anchored to both sides of the structural joint.

The main function of Transflex bridge expansion joints is to absorb movement caused by high traffic volumes, high winds, and contraction and expansion from temperature variations. They are also designed to ensure quiet traffic and provide effective sealing of the joint on the road surface.

POT bearings

Trelleborg POT bearings are suitable for high loads, displacements and rotations. Our POT bearings are split into three main types: fixed, guided and free.

Standard Trelleborg POT bearings are totally detachable, which makes them easy to dismantle if any element must be replaced. Our technical department can ensure that your POT bearings are designed to achieve optimum performance.

Elastomeric bridge bearings

Since 2005 the European standard EN 1337-3 has applied to elastomeric bearings for architectural and civil-engineering applications. Besides the functional requirements, the standard describes the design rules, the material properties, the production tolerances and the acceptance tests.

Trelleborg designs and manufactures elastomeric bridge bearings in accordance with this standard. Elastomeric bearings need to transmit loads and accommodate horizontal movements and rotations around each axis that can occur between two structures. Design analyses will determine the scale of the forces and deformations. Forces, rotations and deformations can be used to start the selection procedure.

Experience shows that, under normal circumstances and with regular maintenance, our elastomeric bridge bearings can function safely for decades.

Complementary bearing devices for elastomeric bearings

In order to change their field of application, our elastomeric bearings can be combined with complementary bearing devices, such as a restrain system or a sliding system.

The restrain type prevents movements in all horizontal directions. Sliding systems, with or without guides, allow movements bigger than the shear capacity of surfaces.

The guide type is a sliding element which restrains movements in direction. The sliding systems are provided with a PTFE sheet in combination with a lubricant, in order to reduce the sliding resistance.

Custom structural bearings for bridges

The type of structural bearing we supply for each bridge project will need to be determined for each support point in accordance with the functional requirements. Small spans can usually suffice with conventional laminated structural bearings: rectangular or circular. Larger spans may require bearings with complementary bearing devices.

The design calculations will be made based on the functional requirements and the type of bearing selected. The allowable surface pressure and the area available largely determine the length and width of the bearing. The thickness of the rubber layer depends on the rotation to be absorbed. The expected horizontal movements strongly influence the thickness of the total rubber package.

Tunnel seals

Trelleborg is unrivalled in seal design and elastomer technology and is the only company in the world supplying seals for both immersed tube and bored tunnels. We are the world’s leading manufacturer of GINA gaskets and OMEGA seals for immersed tunnels, and a prominent supplier of tunnel-segment gaskets, marketed under the HEINKE brand for bored tunnels.

Our water stops are considered as the standard solution to seal the dilatation joints, which also have to withstand sizeable joint movements, for example in immersed tunnels.