Golden Horn Cable Stay Bridge & Swing Bridge

Volume I
Turkish Republic Chapter 9 – Structural Bearings

CHAPTER 9
STRUCTURAL BEARINGS

SECTION 9.1 INTRODUCTION

9.1.1 GENERAL

This section of the Specifications covers the requirements for the materials,
fabrication, testing, transportation, installation, and fixing position for the structural
bearings.

The scope of work shall include testing, fabrication, testing, transportation, installation,
and fixing position as specified in the Contract together with the associated
documentation and preparation of a maintenance manual. In addition, the scope of
work shall include the necessary preparations and design of ancillary items such as
bedding material, shim plates, load distribution plates, anchor bolts, lubricants and
adhesives. All construction, installation, and testing requirements must be approved
by the Construction Supervision Officer before the start of fabrication.

All materials and workmanship shall comply with the requirements in the codes and
standards, including amendments to these, stated in these Specifications and in other
codes and standards referred to by these codes and standards.

The bearings shall be designed, supplied, fabricated, delivered, tested, installed,

positioned, and permanently protected by the Contractor in accordance with the
requirements of this Chapter of the Specification s and the following general
requirements:

(a) Structural design shall comply with AASHTO

(b) Fabrication of steel components shall be in accordance with the requirements of

Chapter 2 of the Specifications.

(c) Protective treatment to steel components shall be in accordance with the

requirements of Chapter 4 of the specifications

(d) Bearing design and fabrication shall be in accordance with the requirement of
th
AASHTO Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges, 17 Edition (2002).
Other relevant standards and specifications:

(1) ANSI/AASHO/AWS D1.5 Bridge Welding Code

(2) ASTM A490/A490M Standard Specification for Structural Bolts, Alloy
Steel,
Heat Treated
(3) ASTM A709/A709M Standard Specification for Structural Steel for
Bridges
(4) ASTM B36/B36M Standard Specification for Brass Plates, Sheets,
Strips
and Rolled Bars
(5) ASTM D4894 Standard Specification for Polytetrafl uoroethylene
(PTFE) Granular Molding and Ram Extrusion
Materials
(6) EN 12163 Copper and Copper Alloys – Rod for General
Purposes
(7) EN 12164 Copper and Copper Alloys – Rod for Free
Machining
Purposes

The bearing system shall be supplied by a specialist Supplier with previous

experience in the design, supply and installation of the specified system. The
appointment of the Bearing Supplier shall be subject to the approval of the
Construction Supervision Officer Construction Supervision Office r.

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Volume I
Turkish Republic Chapter 9 – Structural Bearings

9.1.2 DESIGN AND FABRICATION GUIDELINES

(a) Design of Structural Bearing

Structural bearings shall be designed for the loads and movements given on the
Project Plans. Bearing design shall include a minimum rotation of 0.02 radians, which
includes rotations due to all applicable service loads and movements, maximum
rotations caused by fabrication and installation tolerances, and allowance for
uncertainty. Designs shall assume that vertical and horizontal loads occur
simultaneously.

The bearings shall be designed to be replaceable by jacking up the bridge deck by

maximum 10 mm. Bearing size must respect the pier sizes.

All pertinent design requirement for pressure, loading, friction coefficient and
geometric dimensions as well as other related f actors of each bearing component
shall conform to Division I, Section 14 of AASHTO Standard Specifications for
th
Highway Bridges, 17 Edition (2002).

(b) Fabrication Tolerances

Prior to fabrication of the bearings, the Supplier shall submit shop drawing s with the
following information for approval by the Construction Supervision Officer Construction
Supervision Officer:

(1) The total quantity of each kind of bearing required (fixed, guided -expansion, or
non-guided expansion), grouped first according to type (load range) and then
by actual design capacity.
(2) Plan view and section elevation including all relative dimensions.
(3) Details of all components and sections showing all materials incorporated into
the bearing.
(4) All ASTM, AASHTO, and other mat erial designations.
(5) The maximum design coefficient of friction as noted on the contract plans.
(6) Clearly describe and detail any welding process used in the bearing
manufacture that does not conform to the approved processes of the AWS
code.
(7) Vertical, horizontal, rotation, movement, and load capacity.
(8) A schedule of all bearing offsets, if required by the project.
(9) Alignment plans.
(10) Paint or coating requirements.
(11) Installation scheme.
(12) Complete design calculations verifying confo rmance with the provisions of this
specification. Stress analysis and the mechanics of standard bearing details
are not required.
(13) Anchorage details.
(14) Bearing pre-set details.
(15) Location of the fabrication plant.
(16) The manufacturer's name and the name of his representative responsible for
coordinating production, sampling, and testing.

Bearing components shall be accurately fabricated to the dimensions and tolerances

shown on the contract plan and shall be free from flaws.

All fabrication of steel plates shall comply with Chapter 2 of this Specification. All
welding shall conform to the ANSI/AASHTO/AWS D 1.5 Bridge Welding Code.

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Turkish Republic Chapter 9 – Structural Bearings

Unless specified otherwise the dimensional tolerances and surface finishes of the
bearing shall satisfy the requi rement of Table 18.5.1.5 -1 of Division II, Section 18 of
th
AASHTO Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges, 17 Edition (2002)

SECTION 9.2 MATERIALS

9.2.1 STEEL

All structural steel materials, including top plate, upper anchor plate, pis ton, pot or
base plate, lower anchor plate, shall conform to ASTM A 709 Grade 50 and shall
cause no adverse electrolytic or chemical reaction with other components of the
bearing. Each component shall be made manufactured from a single piece of steel.
Corrosion protection for all exposed steel surfaces shall conform to Chapter 4 of this
Specification, or to the following minimum requirement. Surface shall be prepared by
sand blasting according to SSPC -SP 10, near-white-blasting. Two layers of epoxy or
metalized primer (cathodic protection) and one final finishing layer of paint shall be
applied. The minimum total thickness of the three -layer protection is 160 m.

Unless otherwise specified by the Construction Supervision Officer Construction

Supervision Officer, stainless steel shall conform to ASTM A167 or A240 type 304 with
the following minimum thickness:

Sliding sheet welded to sliding plate: 1.5 mm

Sliding sheet bolted to sliding plate: 2.5 mm

Stainless steel in contact with PTFE sheet shall b e polished to a #8 mirror finish.

All structural bolts shall conform to ASTM A325, ASTM A490, or ASTM A307, hot
dipped galvanized, unless specified otherwise.

9.2.2 POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE (PTFE)

PTFE resin shall be 100% pure virgin material and shall comp ly with ASTM D4894 or
D4895. No reclaimed material shall be used. PTFE shall be resistant to acids,
alkalis, and petroleum products, stable at temperature from -218C to 260C,
nonflammable and nonabsorbent of water. It shall satisfy the requirements o f the
following table.

Physical Property ASTM Test Method Requirement

Specific Gravity D4894, D4895 or 2.16  0.04

D5977

Melting Point (C) D4894, D4895 or 623  2

D5977

Ultimate Tensile Strength D4894, D4895 or 29 ~ 40

(Mpa) D5977

Ultimate Elongation (%) D4894, D4895 or 300

D5977

The PTFE must have dimples. Flat PTFE is not allowed. Dimple pattern s must be
arranged in such a way , that in the main sliding direction there are no areas without
dimples (dimples in single rows shall not be allowe d).

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Turkish Republic Chapter 9 – Structural Bearings

9.2.3 ELASTOMER

The raw elastomer shall be either virgin neoprene (polychloroprene) or virgin natural
rubber (polyisoprene). The elastomer shall be plain, not laminated or fiber reinforced.
It shall meet the material specification as described in Division II, Section 18.4.5.1 of
th
AASHTO Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges, 17 Edition (2002).

9.2.4 SEALING RINGS

Brass sealing rings should conform to one of the three following material
specifications:

(1) ASTM B36, half hard

(2) EN 12163, CuZn37
(3) EN 12164, CuZn39Pb3

Brass sealing rings shall have a minimum width of 10 mm and a minimum thickness of
2 mm. There shall be a minimum of 3 rings.

9.2.5 LUBRICANT

Lubricants, if used, shall consists of material which does not react c hemically or
electrolytically with the PTFE, elastomer, and its mating surfaces and shall remain
stable in the environmental conditions expected at the bridge site.

The Supplier shall submit its selection of lubricant to the Construction Supervision
Officer Construction Supervision Officer for approval along with material specification,
testing requirement, and test report covering at least the following:

(1) worked penetration

(2) dropping point
(3) oil separation after 24 hours at 100 C
(4) oxidation resistance pressure drop after 100 hours at 160 C

9.2.6 OTHER MATERIALS

Other bearing component materials not specifically covered by this Chapter shall
conform to the relevant guidelines and specification of Division II, Section 18 of
th
AASHTO Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges, 17 Edition (2002).

SECTION 9.3 STRUCTURAL BEARING ACCEPTANCE TESTING

9.3.1 SCOPE OF THE WORK

Testing and acceptance criteria for bearings shall conform to this section of the
Specification. All tests presc ribed in this section shall be carried out at the Contractor’s
expense. Unless otherwise agreed by the Construction Supervision Officer
Construction Supervision Officer , all tests shall be supervised by an approved
independent testing agency.

The Contractor shall provide a certification package containing the following items
with individual requirement as prescribed in Section 18 of AASHTO Standard
th
Specifications for Highway Bridges, 17 Edition (2002).:

(1) Material test reports for all steels used excep t AISI C1018 and C1020 for which a
mill conformance certificate is acceptable.
(2) Certificate of Compliance for all non -ferrous metals.
(3) Material test reports for any elastomeric components.

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Volume I
Turkish Republic Chapter 9 – Structural Bearings

(4) Certificate of Compliance for PTFE and any adhesive used.

(5) Certificate of Compliance for any lubricants used
(6) Certificate of Compliance for the brass sealing ring components.
(7) A Certificate of Compliance for the bearings, executed by an officer of the
manufacturing company.
(8) Certificate of Compliance for any dowels or bolts sup plied.
(9) Test reports for the performance tests in accordance with section 9.3.2

9.3.2 STRUCTURAL BEARING ACCEPTANCE TESTS

No bearing sample shall be fabricated solely for the purpose of the testing program. A
random sample shall be selected by the Construction Supervision Officer Construction
Supervision Officer from the production lot at the Supplier’s factory. If the selected
sample fail any of the following tests, another sample shall be selected by the
Construction Supervision Officer Construction Supervision Officer for a re-test.
Should the sample fails again any of the following tests, the Supplier shall be rejected,
and the Contractor is required to select another Supplier.

(a) Coefficient of Friction

The bearing shall be loaded in compressi on with 100% of the full service dead plus
live load, which shall be held constant for twelve hours prior to and throughout the
duration of the sliding test. The first movement of static and dynamic coefficient of
friction of the test bearing shall be det ermined at a sliding speed of less than 2.54 cm
per minute and shall not exceed the coefficient of friction for design of the bearing.
The sliding coefficient of friction shall be measured at the bearing’s design capacity on
fifth and fiftieth cycles.

The measured sliding coefficient of friction shall not exceed 3 percent. The bearing
shall also be examined during and after the sliding test. Any visual defect of any
bearing component shall be cause for rejection of the lot.

(b) Proof Load Test

The bearing shall be loaded in compression with 150% of the bearing’s rated design
capacity and simultaneously subject to a rotational range of 0.02 radian or design
rotation, whichever is greater for a period of one hour.

The bearing will be visually examined b oth during and upon disassembly after the test.
Any resultant visual defects shall constitute cause for rejection. Any observation of lift -
off between the any contact surfaces will also deemed as cause for rejection. If the
load drops below the required value during the application, the test shall be restarted
from the beginning.

SECTION 9.4 INSTALLATION OF STRUCTURAL BEARINGS

9.4.1 GENERAL

Structural bearings shall be installed in accordance with the procedures prescribed by

the bearing Supplier and by qualified personnel. The Contractor shall submit, for the
consent of the Construction Supervision Officer Construction Supervision Officer , the
method of working which describes the installation procedure, a description of the
main items of the equi pment required, as well as the program for dimension setting
and offsets prescribed by the Supplier, the Construction Supervision Officer
Construction Supervision Officer , and the plans, taking into account the temperature
and future movement of the bridge due to temperature changes, release of falsework
and other bridge movements.

Locate each bridge bearing within ± 3 mm of its correct position in the horizontal plane
and orient to within an angular tolerance of 0 .02 radians. Orient guided bearings and
bearings that rotate on only one axis in the direction specified to within a tolerance of

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Turkish Republic Chapter 9 – Structural Bearings

0.005 radians. Set all bearings, except those placed in opposing pairs, horizontal to
within an angular tolerance of 0 .005 radians. Maintain full and even contact with load
plates. Set the superstructure supported by the bearing so that, under full dead load,
its slope lies within an angular tolerance of 0 .005 radians of the design value. Correct
any departure from this tolerance. If needed to level the bearing, remove t he shim
stacks after grouting and before the weight of the superstructure acts on the bearing.

9.4.2 PACKAGING AND HANDLING

Bearing shall be securely banded together as units by Supplier, shipped to the job site,
and stored without relative movement of the bearing parts or disassembly at any time.
Wrap bearings in moisture resistant and dust resistant material to protect against
shipping and job site conditions. Bearings shall be match marked to indicate normal
position of each bearing. The contractor shall ensure that bearings are stored at the
job site in a dry sheltered area free from dirt or dust until installation.

Do not remove the sole and top plates of bearings for separate attachment to the
structure except under the direct supervision of the S upplier and after having obtained
the approval by the Construction Supervision Officer Construction Supervision Officer .

SECTION 9.5 MAINTENANCE MANUAL OF STRUCTURAL BEARINGS

9.5.1 GENERAL

A detailed maintenance manual for the structural bearings s hall be provided for
facilitating future maintenance.

The contents of the manual shall include, but not be limited to the following parts:

• Scope
• How to use the manual
• Periodic inspection and maintenance
• Exceptional inspection
• Component description
• Replacement of a bearing
• Repair of corrosion protection
• Appendices

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