Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the tower crane industry, the 1950s showcased many significant milestones in tower crane development and design. There were a variety of manufacturers were starting to produce more bottom slewing cranes that had telescoping mast. These kinds of machinery dominated the construction market for both office and apartment block construction. A lot of of the leading tower crane manufacturers discarded the use of cantilever jib designs. As an alternative, they made the switch to luffing jibs and eventually, the use of luffing jibs became the standard method.
Manufacturers based within Europe were also really important in the design and development of tower cranes. Construction sites on the continent were usually tight places. Depending on rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, ended up being very costly and difficult. A number of manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These types of cranes were outfitted with self-climbing mechanisms that enabled sections of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it could grow along with the structures it was constructing upwards.
These specific cranes have long jibs and can cover a bigger work area. All of these developments resulted in the practice of building and anchoring cranes in a building's lift shaft. Afterwards, this is the technique that became the industry standard.
From the 1960s, the main focus on tower crane design and development started to cover a higher load moment, covering a bigger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, 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.