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Bettesworth Construction
arch bridges

How to Choose Bridge Bearings for an Arch Bridge

Arch bridge bearings must suit the structure’s thrust path, support restraints, movements, rotations, and governing design requirements—not just its vertical reaction.

By Bettesworth Construction Team 6 min read
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There is no single “best” bearing for an arch bridge. Choose one only after the bridge’s actual load path, support reactions, required movements and rotations, and intended restraints are established. The bearing layout must work with the arch’s horizontal thrust, abutments or ties, expansion joints, and the governing jurisdiction’s design requirements.

What must a bearing do on an arch bridge?

A bearing transfers forces from the bridge superstructure to its supports while allowing the movements and rotations the structural system needs. It may also restrain movement in one or more directions. The selection is therefore a system decision: a bearing that can carry the vertical reaction may still be unsuitable if it cannot accommodate the required rotation, movement, or horizontal force.

Start with the arch’s load path

Identify how the arch is connected to the deck, trusses, ties, and supports. An arch that delivers horizontal thrust to its abutments has different support demands from a tied arch or an arrangement in which adjacent framing redirects that thrust. Hinges and other connection details also affect the support model. The bearing detail must reflect the analyzed structure; it cannot compensate for an incorrect assumption about how the arch is supported.

The FHWA covered-bridge chapter illustrates how an arch-to-truss arrangement can change the thrust path. Its timber-specific pad details are not general design rules for modern highway arches.

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Set the governing design basis

Confirm the applicable jurisdiction, owner requirements, currently adopted bridge design specifications and interims, seismic criteria, material standards, construction tolerances, and project-specific performance requirements. FHWA and AISC/NSBA publications are U.S. technical references; WSDOT guidance applies in Washington and is illustrative elsewhere. The governing project requirements take precedence over examples or guidance from another jurisdiction.

What information is needed before choosing a bearing?

Assemble demands for every support and for the relevant load combinations. FHWA’s bearing-design example begins with these inputs before selecting and checking a bearing type.

  • Vertical reactions and longitudinal and transverse forces, including the direction and sign of each action.
  • Required longitudinal and transverse movements, with the reference temperature or installation setting identified where applicable.
  • Rotations about the axes relevant to the bearing and support geometry.
  • Thermal effects, live-load effects, construction sequence and tolerances, and creep and shrinkage where applicable.
  • Support displacement or settlement and seismic demands where required by the project.
  • The bearing’s location, orientation, and movement direction relative to the bridge geometry.

Use reactions from the actual arch analysis, including the effects of its restraint arrangement and thrust path. A girder-bridge bearing example can illustrate a design workflow, but its example forces do not establish the demands for an arch.

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How should fixed, guided, and free supports be arranged?

Set the bearing layout as one coordinated system rather than selecting each support independently. Decide where movement is restrained, where it is guided, and where translation is permitted in each principal direction. Confirm that the resulting arrangement transfers longitudinal and transverse forces, responds appropriately to arch thrust and seismic demand, and permits the bridge’s intended thermal movement.

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FHWA’s reference manual describes fixed bearings as resisting horizontal movement and expansion bearings as facilitating it; rotations are generally allowed as freely as the design permits. Bearings may be fixed in both directions, fixed in one direction and free to expand in the other, or expansion bearings in both directions. These are support behaviors to coordinate, not a prescription for how many of each an arch bridge needs.

For curved or geometrically complex bridges, movement may not align with a simple global bridge axis. FHWA’s Bridge Geometry Manual discusses locating the thermal point of fixity and orienting guided bearings to predicted movement in a steel-bridge context. Apply that principle using the project’s analysis; it is not an arch-specific prescriptive rule.

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Which bearing families are candidates?

Screen bearing families against the calculated forces, movements, rotations, restraint behavior, and project requirements. FHWA identifies load, movement capability, and economics as factors in selecting a bearing type. The descriptions below are screening guidance, not universal capacity limits.

Bearing family Behavior or potential role What to verify
Steel-reinforced elastomeric Accommodates rotation and translation through elastomer deformation. FHWA’s design example uses this family for an abutment case. Check compressive stress and deflection, shear deformation, combined compression and rotation, stability, reinforcement, and any applicable anchorage and seismic provisions under the governing procedure.
High-load multi-rotational: pot, disc, or spherical Listed in FHWA and AISC/NSBA references as bearing options; may be considered where demands or required rotation and movement behavior do not suit an elastomeric solution. Use the provisions for the selected type and check its movement, rotation, sliding, force-transfer details, and maintenance needs. The sources do not establish a universal load threshold for switching from elastomeric to HLMR bearings.
Steel bearings, including pins Steel mechanisms appear among the bearing families in the references and may suit particular restraint or force-transfer needs. Confirm that the specific mechanism provides the required movement and rotation while meeting the project’s force, detailing, fabrication, inspection, and maintenance requirements.
Seismic isolation bearings Consider when the project’s seismic design uses an isolation or energy-dissipation strategy. Design as part of the bridge’s seismic system and analysis; they are not a generic replacement for ordinary bearings.

WSDOT’s manual includes empirical capacity approximations for bearing families, but those are jurisdiction-specific guidance, not universal selection thresholds. Do not choose a type from vertical reaction alone: movement, rotation, horizontal actions, stiffness, temperature and exposure, joint compatibility, clearances, installation, and owner maintenance requirements can all affect feasibility.

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What design checks and interfaces matter?

Follow the selected bearing’s own design procedure

Checks depend on bearing type. In its elastomeric-bearing example, FHWA addresses preliminary dimensions and material properties, compressive stress, compressive deflection, shear deformation, combined compression and rotation, stability, reinforcement, and anchorage and seismic provisions where applicable. The shear-deformation checks address whether the bearing can accommodate anticipated horizontal movement without edge rollover or fatigue-related delamination. This is not a universal checklist for pot, disc, spherical, steel, or isolation bearings.

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For high-load multi-rotational, steel, or seismic-isolation bearings, apply the governing provisions for that system. Coordinate the component design with the bridge designer’s responsibility for interfaces such as sole plates, masonry plates, anchor rods, supporting concrete, and movement guides. AISC/NSBA’s 2022 guide covers design, fabrication, installation, and maintenance, but the currently adopted AASHTO edition and owner criteria govern the project.

Design the bearing and its support details together

Check how the bearing transfers forces into the arch end, bearing seat, abutment, and foundation. Resolve local concrete bearing and reinforcement, anchorage, stability against sliding or uplift where relevant, and clearances throughout the full movement range. Show the bearing orientation and movement settings clearly in the plans and specifications, and account for installation tolerances and design rotations.

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How do joints, access, and maintenance affect the choice?

Compare bearing travel with the movement capacity and setting of the adjacent expansion joint. WSDOT specifically calls for movement restrictions at bearings to be compatible with the joint. An arrangement that works at the bearing but exceeds the joint’s compatible movement is not a complete support design.

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Detail for the bridge’s exposure and the owner’s operating requirements. Provide protection from environmental exposure and access for inspection. Where required by the owner, plan how a bearing can be jacked and replaced, and coordinate that work with the supporting structure and available clearances. Durability, inspection access, replacement strategy, and installation constraints belong in the type comparison, alongside structural capacity and movement.

Which references should govern the final design?

Use the currently adopted bridge design specifications, interims, owner supplements, and project criteria for final calculations and detailing. FHWA examples and handbooks, the AISC/NSBA 2022 guide, and WSDOT’s June 2025 manual are useful technical references, but they do not override the project’s governing requirements. The FHWA LRFD examples describe bearing design in a girder-bridge context; calculate the arch’s reactions and restraint forces from the actual arch model.

FHWA’s Steel Bridge Design Handbook: Bearing Design (FHWA-HIF-16-002, Volume 15) is a directly relevant technical reference. The applicable bearing type, support arrangement, and detailing still need to be established for the individual bridge and its governing design basis.

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