Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the tower crane business, the 1950s showcased many important milestones in tower crane development and design. There were a range of manufacturers were beginning to make more bottom slewing cranes which had telescoping mast. These types of machines dominated the construction industry for both office and apartment block construction. Many of the top tower crane manufacturers didn't utilize cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, utilizing luffing jibs became the standard method.
Within Europe, there were key improvements being made in the design and development of tower cranes. Usually, construction sites were tight places. Depending upon rail systems to transport several tower cranes, became very difficult and costly. A number of manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These types of cranes were outfitted with self-climbing mechanisms that allowed sections 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 precipitated the practice of erecting and anchoring cranes inside a building's lift shaft. After that, this is the technique that 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, climbing mechanisms and technology, faster erection strategies, and new control systems. In addition, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most important developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.