Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the 1950s in the tower crane business, there were numerous significant developments in the design of these huge cranes. Many different manufacturers were started making bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These equipments dominated the construction industry for both apartment block and office construction. Many of the leading tower crane manufacturers didn't utilize cantilever jib designs. As a substitute, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, the use of luffing jibs became the regular practice.
Within Europe, there were major improvements being made in the development and design of tower cranes. Often, construction locations were tight areas. Having to rely on rail systems to transport several tower cranes, ended up being too difficult and expensive. Some manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes which 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 can grow along with the structures it was constructing upwards.
The long jibs on these particular cranes additionally covered a bigger work area. All of these developments precipitated the practice of building and anchoring cranes in the lift shaft of a building. After that, this is the method 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 larger 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 significant developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.