Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the tower crane industry, the 1950s showcased numerous important milestones in tower crane development and design. There were a variety of manufacturers were starting to make more bottom slewing cranes which had telescoping mast. These machinery dominated the construction market for both office and apartment block construction. Many of the top tower crane manufacturers abandoned the use of cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, using luffing jibs became the standard practice.
Manufacturers based in Europe were also really important in the design and development of tower cranes. Construction locations on the continent were often constricted places. Depending upon rail systems to transport several tower cranes, became very costly and inconvenient. A number of manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These cranes were outfitted with self-climbing mechanisms that enabled parts of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it could grow along with the structures it was constructing upwards.
These particular cranes have long jibs and could cover a bigger work area. All of these developments resulted in the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes inside the lift shaft of a building. Then, this is the method that became the industry standard.
From the 1960s, the main focus on tower crane design and development started to cover a higher load moment, covering a bigger job radius, climbing mechanisms and technology, faster erection strategies, and new control systems. Moreover, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most essential developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.