Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the 1950s in the tower crane industry, there were numerous significant developments in the design of these huge cranes. Many different manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These types of equipments dominated the construction business for office and apartment block construction. A lot of of the leading tower crane manufacturers discarded the use of cantilever jib designs. Instead, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, the use of luffing jibs became the regular method.
Manufacturers based within Europe were also heavily important in the design and development of tower cranes. Construction locations on the continent were often tight places. Relying upon rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, became very costly and difficult. Some manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These cranes were equipped with self-climbing mechanisms that allowed parts of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it can grow along with the structures it was building upwards.
The long jibs on these specific cranes additionally covered a bigger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of erecting and anchoring cranes inside the lift shaft of a building. After that, this is the technique 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 bigger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. Moreover, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most important developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.