Shimmed Elastomeric Bearings are the cornerstone of modern structural support, designed to manage immense loads and complex movements in bridges, buildings, and other heavy civil structures. As a leading supplier, Benchmark provides high-quality, custom-engineered shimmed bearings that meet and exceed CSA standards, ensuring the longevity and safety of your projects from coast to coast. These bearings combine the flexibility of elastomer with the strength of steel shims, creating a component that effectively accommodates translation, rotation, and load transfer.
What Are Shimmed Elastomeric Bearings?
A shimmed elastomeric bearing is a multi-layered structural component. It consists of alternating layers of a durable elastomer (like natural rubber or neoprene) and internal steel plates (shims). These layers are bonded together under heat and pressure to form a single, unified unit.
- Elastomer Layers: Allow for shear deformation to accommodate thermal expansion and contraction, and compression for load distribution.
- Steel Shim Plates: Reinforce the bearing, preventing lateral bulging and significantly increasing its vertical load capacity.
This synergistic design creates a bearing that is both flexible and incredibly strong, capable of supporting thousands of tonnes while allowing for the natural movements of a structure.
Key Benefits & Features for Your Project
Benchmark’s shimmed elastomeric bearings are selected for their proven performance and reliability.
- Exceptional High Load Capacity: The internal steel shims dramatically increase the bearing’s stiffness, allowing it to support very high vertical loads without excessive deformation. This makes them ideal for long-span bridges, heavy industrial buildings, and piers.
- Multi-Directional Movement Accommodation: They effectively handle shear movements (from thermal expansion/contraction) and rotations (from dead, live, and wind loads) simultaneously, protecting the structure from harmful stresses.
- Maintenance-Free & Durable: Once installed, our bearings require no regular maintenance. The high-quality elastomer is resistant to weathering, ozone, and aging, providing a long service life with minimal lifecycle cost.
- Cost-Effective Solution: Compared to more complex mechanical bearing systems, shimmed elastomeric bearings offer a reliable and economical solution without compromising on performance.
- Excellent Damping Properties: The elastomeric core provides inherent vibration damping, enhancing comfort for occupants in buildings and reducing dynamic loads on bridge structures.
What is the difference between a plain and a shimmed elastomeric bearing?
A plain elastomeric bearing is made of a single homogenous layer of elastomer and is suitable for lighter loads. A shimmed bearing has internal steel plates that reinforce it, allowing it to carry much higher loads with less deformation.
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Additional Thermal Break and Vibration control products we stock in Canada & USA for fast fabrication and shipment:
expansion pad, PTFE sliding assembly, Multi-directional slide bearing, Guided expansion joint, Low-friction bridge bearing, Self-aligning slide plate, Stainless steel/PTFE slide.
bridge slide bearings
building slide bearings
expansion bearing systems