Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Within the tower crane business, the 1950s showcased numerous significant milestones in tower crane design and development. There were a variety of manufacturers were starting to make more bottom slewing cranes which had telescoping mast. These machinery dominated the construction industry for apartment block and office construction. Lots of of the leading tower crane manufacturers discarded the use of cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and eventually, the use of luffing jibs became the regular practice.
In Europe, there were key improvements being made in the development and design of tower cranes. Normally, construction locations were tight areas. Depending on rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, ended up being too 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 allowed parts of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it could grow along with the structures it was constructing upwards.
The long jibs on these particular cranes additionally covered a larger work area. All of these developments resulted in the practice of building and anchoring cranes in the lift shaft of a building. After that, this is the method which became the industry standard.
From the 1960s, the main focus on tower crane development and design started to cover a higher load moment, covering a larger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. Additionally, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most significant developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.