From ETAGs to EADs – mageba takes the lead in certification of single-gap joints

mageba is proud to be the first company in the world to have been awarded an European Technical Assessment (ETA) for single gap (or “nosing”) joints since the European assessment system was overhauled in 2020.

Gaining a Europe-wide certification for expansion joints is a demanding process that requires years of effort and a lot of investment as it is now a lot more comprehenisve than it was prior to the overhaul of the European assessment basis in 2020, as reported on in our previous newsletter article on the subject. But in spite of this overhaul, the current level of assessment of expansion joints significantly exceeds any other common national specification for expansion joints in Europe or on an international level, especially in relation to the very demanding field and laboratory testing specified.

To date, mageba has been at the forefront of the movement to adopt the new system and use it to gain new certifications, having previously been awarded European Technical Assessments for RESTON®POT bearings HP and TENSA®POLYFLEX®ADVANCED PU expansion joints.

Now we have added another, with our new certification of our TENSA®GRIP Type RS HP expansion joint – one of our most widely used single gap (or “nosing”) joints. We are especially proud of this achievement, as this is the first such certification of any nosing-type joint on the market, and shows how mageba is maintaining its position at the forefront of the industry.

mageba’s new ETA for the TENSA®GRIP Type RS HP expansion joint is the first such certification under the revised assessment system for any single gap (or “nosing”) expansion joint on the market

The TENSA®GRIP Type RS expansion joint is exceptionally robust and has proven its worth on countless bridge structures all over the world over a period of several decades

The assessment and certification process demanded expertise and independence from a number of different parties, including testing facilities, checkers, technical assessment bodies and certifying notified bodies

An example of the testing required in connection with the ETA assessment: Watertightness testing of the strip seal design used by the TENSA®GRIP expansion joint, involving repeated opening/closing movement cycles