LCL's Spherical Bearings have been designed to be very easy to install, maintenance-free and cost-effective. The product has been successfully used in a broad range of applications which include: vehicle bridges, railway bridges and stadiums.

LCL's Spherical Bearings are designed for very high vertical, horizontal and lateral loads and where large 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 during the life of the structure. The bearings are designed to be quickly and easily replaced because of the structural fastening and attachment strategy LCL deploys.

Structural rotation is accommodated by a system of convex and concave plates which are, in turn, mounted onto a flat sliding surface which allows horizontal displacements whilst the curved bearings rotate about their center of radius. In addition the bearings have the capability to rotate in any direction (constraint-free rotation) around both horizontal and vertical planes by the sliding action of the curved spherical surfaces. The spherical bearings are capable of large tilting angles with very low tilting resistance. LCL offers two spherical bearing products which differ mainly in accordance with the strategy used at the sliding surface interface.

The most popular product is designed primarily for use in railway bridges and consists of a convex bronze or stainless steel base plate which is self lubricating through the incorporation of trepanned recessed reservoirs containing solid lubricants whose primary constituent is molybdenum. The concave smooth finished steel top plate slides over the base plate which allows the large rotational displacements.

However, by adopting an advanced materials design approach, LCL also offers a Spherical Bearing which consists of a convex aluminium or stainless steel base plate but where the steel top plate is machined to accommodate a dimpled Teflon (PTFE) sheet. In this way the PTFE sheet is mechanically recessed and confined, resulting in superior mechanical binding. Compared to the traditional method of surface bonding the sheet, LCL's design approach guarantees the integrity of the sliding surface components during the life time of the bearing.

All of LCL-Bridge Spherical Bearing 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 can operate down to extremely low temperatures; as low as - 40 degrees Centigrade.