Structural Isolation Bearings
Structural isolation bearings are used to isolate entire buildings or specific elements such as walls, floor plates, or columns. These bearings are custom-made to support specific loads and have the correct isolation properties. They are commonly used to prevent noise caused by vibrations from nearby railways or underground lines from travelling into a building structure.
Isolation bearings can either be made from elastomeric materials, such as natural rubber, or helical metal spring. The type of bearing required will depend on the nature of the vibration.
Why use Isolation Bearings?
Vibrations from sources like railway lines can cause undesirable noise in buildings. By supporting the entire structure or specific elements on isolation bearings, the transmission path is disrupted. This can be a more cost-effective solution than extensive ‘box-in-box’ measures, which take up interior space and limit the building’s flexibility in the future.
Our Mason bearings can last the lifespan of a structure without the need for inspection or maintenance. We offer complete support from the concept phase through to site quality assurance.
Design and Support
Our engineering approach is centred around supporting structural isolation projects. We provide comprehensive support from the beginning, as introducing bearings will likely require significant input from the design team.
Anything that crosses the isolation line will need to be reviewed, from the fundamental structural design to creating and maintaining isolation gaps, internal partitions, façade supports, and fire detailing. Our extensive experience from previous projects allows us to help with these tasks.
We also offer full onsite support, ensuring the installation goes smoothly and working with any sub-contractors that could impact the isolation.
We are proud of our approach to bearing design. Our bearings, whether spring or rubber, can last the life of the structure with zero requirements for maintenance or inspection. This is done through the essential principle of maintaining low material stress and strain characteristics, comprehensive testing and exacting fabrication.
We would be happy to discuss our engineering in detail. Our warranties are simple documents but supported by extensive testing and quality documentation for every bearing we manufacture.
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See the following video for an example structural isolation project, the Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge, London.
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