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Expansion joints
Product characteristics
Principle Characteristics Parts and components
TENSA®MODULAR expansion joints are Expansion joints are subjected to consider- The joint’s individual lamella beams ①
based on the following concept: The able demands and must satisfy these over rest on and slide along support bars ②,
movement gap at the end of a bridge deck a service life of many years. The design of and are connected to these by stirrups ③
is divided into smaller individual gaps by the watertight TENSA®MODULAR expan- through which the support bars pass. The
horizontal lamella beams. This enables sion joint, which was invented by mageba, support bars span between support bar
deck movements of well over 2,000 mm to has been continually developed in recent boxes ④ in the deck structures at each
be accommodated. Rotations about every decades. The current 4th generation of side of the movement gap. Both support
axis can also be facilitated. the system fully accommodates these high bars and lamella beams are supported by
The individual gaps are sealed watertight demands. high-quality polymer elements and pre-
by elastomeric profiles, enabling the joint The TENSA®MODULAR expansion joint stressed by elastomeric components. The
to be completely drained at the deck was developed, as the name suggests, as movements of the lamella beams relative
surface. The movements of the lamella a modular system, with joints for specific to each other and along the support bars
beams relative to each other are regu- needs built up from proven components. are regulated by control springs. Sealing
lated, elastically and constraint-free, by a The principle variable in this process is the profiles ⑤, which connect the lamella
control system. movement range which must be accom- beams to each other and to the joint’s
modated. edge profiles ⑥, make the system endur-
mageba TENSA®MODULAR expansion
ingly watertight.
joints are typically used in bridges with Each individual gap of the joint, and its
movements of over 80 mm. sealing profile, allows maximum gap open-
The fitting of so-called “sinus plates” to the ings of between 60 and 80 mm, depending
joint’s surface enables noise from over- on the relevant norm. However, if noise-
rolling traffic to be reduced by up to 80 %. reducing sinus plates are bolted to the up-
per surface of the lamella beams and edge
profiles, the movement accommodated by
each gap increases to 100 mm. For special
load cases such as earthquakes, yet larger
movements can be facilitated. The maxi-
mum joint movement is used to determine
the number of gaps and lamella beams
that the joint will require.
⑥ ①
⑥
⑤
1
③
④
②
2
Expansion joints
Client benefits
Highlights Design Functionality
• Allows free movements in all direc- • Welding is avoided in all highly stressed • All parts of the joint are elastically pre-
tions and rotations about every axis connections, increasing durability. stressed, making them highly resistant
• All of the joint’s well-proven wear parts to fatigue.
• Completely watertight system with
drainage at the bridge surface are bolted in place, and can be replaced • The elastic gap control system increases
if necessary with little effort and with- the service life of the entire joint by
• Versatile and freely adaptable to
out disrupting traffic. damping the impact loading from over-
suit client‘s wishes
• For the installation of the joint, only rolling traffic.
• Can be used on all types of bridges
relatively small recesses are required • The joint’s prestressed connections
• Based on well-proven and thorough- in the bridge structure at each side. damp impacts and vibrations, while fa-
ly tested components and parts Thanks to its asymmetric design, it can cilitating large transverse movements,
• Low-noise when fitted with sinus be easily adapted to suit specific cir- vertical displacements and rotations.
plates cumstances. • Sinus plates, which can optionally be fit-
• The orientation of the support bars, in ted to the surface of the joint, reduce
the direction of the deck’s span, simpli- noise from over-rolling traffic by up to
fies the placing of the connecting deck 80%, making the joint suitable for use in
reinforcement. noise-sensitive areas.
1 2
3 4 5
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Expansion joints
Movement capacity
Movements of the joint Skewed orientation and movements
1
mageba TENSA®MODULAR expansion Expansion joints are typically installed
joints allow movements in every direction perpendicular to the bridge’s axis, with
and, at the same time, rotations about their longitudinal movements parallel to
every axis. Their elastic control system can the same axis. But it is also possible to de-
accommodate large transverse and verti- sign modular joints for installation with a
cal movements without developing con- different orientation (i.e. not perpendicu-
straint forces. lar to the bridge axis), or for longitudinal
If necessary, the joint’s support bar boxes movements which are not parallel to the
can be designed with a trapezoidal shape bridge axis. In such cases, the support bar
to increase the joint’s transverse move- boxes can be orientated either parallel to
ment capacity to match its longitudinal the bridge axis or perpendicular to the
movement capacity. joint’s axis.
In this case, the support bars of the joint 2
can rotate until they are orientated at 45
degrees to the bridge axis. This simple ge-
ometric adaptation represents one signifi-
cant advantage of the TENSA®MODULAR
joint: the functionality and construction
of the overall system remains the same for
small or large transverse movements.
The table below presents the maximum
movement capacities of various sizes of
TENSA®MODULAR expansion joint, in the
longitudinal and transverse directions.
Transverse movements are considered
with all gaps fully closed. 1 Vertical movement capacity of the joint
2 Transverse movement capacity of the joint
(Details relating to other sizes, for larger movements, available on request) *) Values significantly increased at reduced longitudinal movements
4
Expansion joints
Design details
Support and connection system Control system The elasticity of the control system pre-
The joint’s lamella beams are connected Elastomeric springs control the move- vents damage to the joint should individu-
to the support bars beneath by stirrups ments of the individual lamella beams al gaps become blocked by stones or de-
through which the support bars pass. In and make them work as a single kinematic bris.
the same way, the support bars are en- system. The movements of each lamella The system is designed to ensure that the
closed by support bar boxes at the edges beam relative to its neighbours are regu- control springs are not stressed in the
of the joint. In this way, the whole system lated by control sets, which are rigidly con- transverse direction when the joint is in its
is supported and connected elastically and nected to that beam by steel and to the central position. This minimises fatigue
securely, while still allowing movements as neighbouring beams by control springs. and thus increases service life.
desired. At each edge of the joint, the control set
is connected to the bridge structure by
ROBO®SLIDE sliding material so-called control boxes. The entire move-
Where sliding components are subjected ment range of the joint is thus distributed
to demanding loading or movements, among the individual gaps, and braking
mageba uses ROBO®SLIDE, a highly de- and acceleration forces from traffic are
veloped modern alternative to the tradi- elastically damped and resisted.
tionally used PTFE. This material consists
of modified ultra-high molecular weight
polyethylene, and offers very high bearing
strength, low friction and exceptional re-
sistance to wear. The increased service life
of components which feature this material C C
considerably reduces maintenance effort.
Recess dimensions
The main dimensions of the recesses
(block-outs) required in the bridge struc-
ture for the installation of various sizes of B1 A B2
expansion joint, and the weight of joint
per meter, are provided in the table below. Section through a modular joint of type LR6
(Details relating to other sizes, for larger movements, available on request) *) The minimum value of the recess refers to an asphalt thickness of 70 mm
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Expansion joints
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Expansion joints
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Expansion joints
Golden Ears Bridge (CA) Incheon Bridge (KR) Ba Lin He Bridge (CN) Talübergang Lavant (AT) Pont de Normandie (FR) Ganter Bridge (CH)
Switzerland www.mageba.ch
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Version 2013.05 CH-EN ©mageba mageba sa - Solistrasse 68 - 8180 Bülach - Switzerland - T +41 44 872 40 50 - info@mageba.ch