A mechanical joint is comprised of four elements: grooved pipe, the coupling housings, a pair of nuts and bolts and the rubber gasket ring. This gasket is pressure responsive and encased by the coupling housing when it engages in the groove around the circumference of the pipe. The gasket then creates a seal unified joint that is enhanced when the system is pressurised.

The Victaulic system provides many mechanical design features that are useful in systems exposed to earthquake conditions.

The flexibility of Victaulic flexible grooved-pipe couplings reduces the transmission of stresses through a piping system, while the gasket damps vibration. When flexibility is not desired, rigid couplings can be used. Both flexible and rigid couplings provide discontinuity at each joint, which helps minimise pipeline stresses generated during seismic movement.