LCL's Pot Bearings are designed for very high vertical, horizontal and lateral loads and where rotational structural displacements need to be accommodated. The bearings are grouped into three categories: fixed bearing (restriction of all movement in planar axis); guided bearing (restriction of movement in one direction in planar axis); multi-directional bearing (allows movement in all planes and axes). All three types can be designed to accommodate uplift loads, often required during construction or the life of the structure. The bearings are designed to be quickly and easily replaced due to the structural fastening and attachment strategy LCL deploys.

A high quality elastomeric disc is tightly confined between a cylindrical machined plate, called the pot plate, and a piston plate. Under high pressure the elastomeric disc turns into its liquid state and acts like a hydraulic fluid which allows the rotational movement around any horizontal axis. LCL's design enables very high compression forces to be imparted to the elastomeric disc and so a physically smaller bearing; an advantage in many bridge design applications. A neoprene seal is inserted between the pot and piston plates to prevent dust and debris from entering the assembly.

Bridge movements are accommodated through the combination of a mirror finished stainless steel plate and a moulded Teflon (PTFE) sheet, resulting in sliding surfaces that have a very low coefficient of friction. LCL's design approach is to machine the pot and piston plates to accommodate the PTFE sheet and in this way the sheet is mechanically recessed and confined, resulting in superior mechanical binding. Compared to the traditional method of surface bonding the PTFE sheet, LCL's design approach guarantees the integrity of the sliding surface components during the life-time of the bearing. In addition this strategy also enables the bearing to accommodate significantly higher loads for its size.

All of LCL-Bridge Pot designs, materials & fabrication processes can be adapted to client required manufacturing specifications or codes of practice; for any Country. The bearing is designed to be maintenance free for the duration of its design life and operate down to extremely low temperatures, as low as - 40 degrees Centigrade.