Disk Bearings | R.J. Watson, Inc.

Spherical Bearings

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:04:39 -0500

RJ Watson Spherical Bridge Bearings consist of a concave bearing plate, a convex mating plate, an upper sole plate and a lower masonry plate. Sliding surfaces consist of bonded PTFE mated to highly polished stainless steel. RJW Spherical Bearings are used to accommodate thermal, seismic and mechanical expansion and contraction and also provide multidirectional rotation for highway bridges, railway bridges and other civil engineering structures.

Spherical Bearings Data Sheet

EQS Sliding Isolation Disk Bearings

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:44:11 -0500

RJ Watson Seismic Isolation Bridge Bearings are a state of the art seismic isolation disc bearing system designed to minimize forces and displacements experienced by structures during an earthquake and are known as the EradiQuake System (EQS). The EQS transfers the energy of a moving mass (kinetic energy), such as a bridge deck during an earthquake, into heat and spring (potential energy). This is done through the MER which connects the superstructure to the substructure.

The EQS can be adjusted at the direction of the design engineer to achieve a wide variety of energy dissipation levels. This is because the EQS is designed to dissipate energy through friction.

By adjusting the friction levels the amount of damping can be controlled. This extraordinary feature gives the engineer the ability to optimize the structural design. Unlike an elastomeric isolation bearing, the lateral effective stiffness of an EQS bearing can be varied in different directions to optimize the response of a structure.

Do you have a project that requires special bearing considerations? Or would you like more detailed bearing dimensions than available here? Please download our Design Questionnaire and send it to our design team for free, no obligation design services.

Disktron Bearings

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:43:51 -0500

The Disktron Bearing is composed of four fundamental components; the load plates, the upper and lower bearing plates, the shear resisting mechanism (SRM) and a Polytron elastomeric disc. The Polytron disc material is a polyurethane blend conforming to AASHTO Specifications and tested at MCEER. The Disktron Bearing is a low profile alternative to the pot bearing and it generally has a longer service life. Bearings can also be modified for Uplift Restraint.

Disktron Specifications

Disktron Dimension Charts