Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
During the 1950s in the tower crane industry, there were numerous significant developments in the design of these large cranes. Numerous manufacturers were started making bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These kinds of equipments dominated the construction business for apartment block and office construction. Many of the top tower crane manufacturers discarded the use of cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, using luffing jibs became the regular practice.
Manufacturers based within Europe were also really influential in the development and design of tower cranes. Construction areas on the continent were normally constricted areas. Relying on rail systems to transport several tower cranes, became very difficult and expensive. A number of manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These cranes were equipped 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 building upwards.
The long jibs on these particular cranes additionally covered a larger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of erecting and anchoring cranes inside a building's lift shaft. Afterwards, this is the method that became the industry standard.
The main focus on tower crane development and design from the 1960s started on covering 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 significant developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.