Franklinville Bridge, NY

R.J. Watson, Inc. Disktron Bearings and Silicoflex Joint Sealing System – 22 Years Later

In 1996, Cattaraugus County replaced Franklinville Bridge 31, which carries Coal Chutes Road (Rte. 18) over Ischua Creek in Franklinville, NY. The new 127-foot-long pony truss bridge was set on four R.J. Watson, Inc. Disktron Bearings, each designed to accommodate a 280-kip vertical service load, up to 2.25” of longitudinal movement, and a rotation of up to 0.02 radians.

Cattaraugus County chose Erdman Anthony to be the designer of the structure and Silverline Construction was awarded the contract to build. Silverline Construction chose R.J. Watson Disktron bearings for their reliability and maintenance-free performance. In addition, Silverline Construction chose R.J. Watson Silicoflex preformed expansion joints with elastomeric concrete headers as the joint sealing device. Upon recent inspection, both the bridge bearings and expansion joints are in excellent condition and functioning as designed after 22 years of service.