Flexible Rubber expansion joint device used for bridge

What are expansion joints?
Designed to span gaps between structural elements, expansion joints are necessary to absorb movement, accommodate shrinkage and creep effects, deformation under vehicle load and changes in temperature on concrete, steel or composite structures, particularly on bridge decks and traffic areas of buildings.
Perfect road surface continuity, with anti-skid grooves on upper surface, for optimum user safety.

Features:

High shock absorption capacity, without equivalent in the mat joints’ category, owing to the flexibility and damping properties of the high-quality rubber implemented.

Perfect road surface continuity, with anti-skid grooves on upper surface, for optimum user safety.

Versatility, to work with different average gap sizes simply by adapting the movements.

Applications: cable-stayed bridges, suspension bridges, slab bridges.

Why do we need expansion joints?

Each structure is continuously affected by vehicle load, wind conditions and temperature. We can consider them as ‘living’, moving structures, continually exposed to external forces, which impact their life span.

When designing a bridge, an engineer takes these external forces and effects into account, ensuring the bridge has both bearings to allow movement and defined restraint at its support, and expansion joints strategically placed to allow traffic to pass over movement gaps.

How do we design expansion joints for new structures?

When designing a new structure, the engineer will consider how it will react to external factors. A specification is calculated and passed to a joint manufacturer, who will establish the best expansion joint to suit the application. The specification will process information such as type of structure, expected movements, gap, whole life and expected service life. Material and type of fixity of the joint should also be considered to allow easy maintenance and replacement.

It is important to use a specialist manufacturer that can offer a wide range of joints to find the ideal solution to match the

requirements.

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