Maurer SE: Bearings, Joints, and the EPD Gap

What Maurer makes, at a glance

Maurer SE focuses on controlling forces and motion in bridges and buildings. Core lines include structural bearings, modular and finger expansion joints, seismic isolation systems such as sliding pendulums and lead‑rubber bearings, tuned mass dampers, vibration isolation, plus inspection and monitoring services.

This is not a single‑product company. Expect several product families per category and many project‑specific variants, so the real‑world SKU count sits in the hundreds rather than a tidy catalog. Many items are engineered to order, which makes documentation and data discipline even more critical during submittals.

Market presence and routes to spec

Maurer supplies globally with flagship references across Europe and Asia. In the United States, the Maurer System Swivel Expansion Joint is distributed via D.S. Brown under an exclusive license, which means spec writers may encounter the same mechanism under another brand in DOT and tollway work.

EPD coverage today

We did not find verified, product‑specific EPDs published by Maurer in the major programs we reviewed as of December 19, 2025. If a declaration exists under a different legal entity or licensee, it was not readily discoverable.

That matters. Project teams pursuing low‑carbon goals, whole‑building LCA, or LEED v5 pathways often request product‑specific EPDs. Without one, they must default to conservative assumptions and sometimes apply penalties in their carbon accounting, which quietly pushes a product down the shortlist.

Competitors already showing up with EPDs

Closest like‑for‑like competitors include mageba, Watson Bowman Acme, D.S. Brown, and RJ Watson for North American bridge work. Among these, mageba has public, program‑listed EPDs in overlapping categories. Example 1. mageba’s RESTON spherical bearing EPD was published on December 27, 2024 with validity through December 27, 2029, including a 75‑year indicative service life reference in the declaration text (EPD Hub, 2024). Example 2. mageba’s TENSA‑MODULAR expansion joint holds a European Technical Assessment ETA‑24/0357 issued June 19, 2024, which many specifiers read alongside enviromental declarations when screening options (EOTA, 2024).

Likely best‑seller risk zone

Maurer’s modular swivel‑joist expansion joints are a signature offer for long‑movement and seismic locations. Where a tender explicitly requests EPDs for joint assemblies, mageba’s program‑listed bearing and expansion‑joint credentials make that manufacturer easier to select on paperwork alone. We see this in bridges, interchanges, and rail viaducts, and increasingly in large facilities that treat expansion control hardware as part of embodied‑carbon reporting.

How many products need coverage

Practical prioritization helps. Start with two to three high‑volume or high‑visibility lines per category. For expansion joints, that often means the most common modular sizes and a representative finger joint. For bearings, a spherical type and the most used elastomeric series. For seismic isolation, one sliding pendulum and one lead‑rubber configuration. This yields coverage for dozens of real SKUs because representative EPDs can be structured to encompass variant sizes within a defined envelope, as long as the PCR allows it and verification confirms the approach.

Picking the right PCR and operator

For movement devices there is not always a narrowly tailored PCR. Most manufacturers successfully use EN 15804+A2 construction‑product PCRs from established program operators, then define a clear declared unit and boundaries. Good options include IBU in Germany, EPD International for global acceptance, Smart EPD for North America, and EPD Hub for flexible, EN‑aligned coverage. The critical piece is alignment with what competitors already use so spec teams can compare like with like.

Data hurdles you can simplify

There’s several moving parts: steel grades by mass share, elastomer and PTFE formulations, fabrication energy, coatings, packaging, transport scenarios, and maintenance assumptions for wear parts like seals and springs. The fastest programs tame this with a tight data plan, plant utility pulls for a single reference year, and prebuilt BOM templates that engineers can complete in hours, not weeks. Strong verification notes and variant rules inside the EPD keep future size additions simple.

Where the ROI lands

For civil owners and GC teams, an EPD removes uncertainty in carbon accounting, which keeps Maurer’s products in scope when low‑carbon procurement language appears. In competitive settings, being the only expansion joint or bearing with a current, third‑party verified declaration often shortens Q&A loops and reduces substitution risk. One mid‑sized win can pay back the documentation effort many times over.

The playbook to close the gap

Sequence it like this. 1) Benchmark against the competitor PCRs and operators already used on your target tenders. 2) Select two representative products per category and confirm variant ranges for inclusion. 3) Lock data boundaries and build simple plant‑data exports. 4) Pre‑brief the verifier so review time is predictable. 5) Publish where the project teams actually look, then expand the set quarterly.

Done right, Maurer can match the field on declarations without slowing the engineering work that makes their hardware win in the first place.