Questions we get asked

It's the pad a bridge girder sits on. Concrete and steel expand and contract with temperature, and traffic makes a span flex and rotate — an elastomeric bearing absorbs that movement so the load transfers to the pier or abutment without the structure fighting itself. A laminated bearing does it with alternating layers of rubber and steel plate bonded into one block.

A plain pad is solid rubber with no internal reinforcement. It's simpler and cheaper, and it suits lighter loads. A laminated bearing has steel shims vulcanize-bonded inside it, which stop the rubber from bulging outward under load. That makes it far stiffer vertically while staying flexible horizontally, so it carries much heavier loads in the same footprint.

Shape factor is the loaded plan area of one interior elastomer layer divided by the area of that layer's perimeter that is free to bulge. A higher shape factor means a stiffer bearing in compression. It's the first number most engineers check because it drives compressive deflection, and design specifications set limits on it. The Spec Builder on this site calculates it as you change the layup.

Yes. BCI is an approved manufacturer under AASHTO Product Evaluation & Audit Solutions, and an approved supplier to 13+ state departments of transportation, with more being added. Every production bearing is compression tested and inspected against the project requirements before it is accepted.

That's most of what we do. Laminated bearing assemblies can be molded to any shape or size — round, skewed, beveled or tapered to match a grade. If you have a drawing, we work to it. If you don't, our engineers prepare shop drawings, either from your design intent or by helping you develop something new.

Rush and just-in-time work is something we're set up for rather than something we squeeze in. Flexible staffing, shop capacity and transportation partners mean an emergency order doesn't wait behind the queue. The shop runs 3 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, plus weekends when a job needs it. Call 740-572-1019 and we'll tell you honestly what's achievable.

Throughout the United States. Our location in Columbus, Ohio, puts the plant at the crossing of I-70 and I-71, which means most of the industrial Midwest and Northeast — Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Indianapolis, Louisville, Charleston — is inside a day's freight run.

Plan dimensions, total height or the internal layup, elastomer hardness, quantity and the need-by date. The DOT or project specification number helps too. If you have a detail sheet or shop drawing, send it. If you don't, use the Spec Builder and email the result to Joe — that's enough to start a conversation.