Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the 1950s in the tower crane industry, there were many significant developments in the design of these huge cranes. Numerous manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These kinds of machinery dominated the construction industry for both apartment block and office construction. A lot of of the top tower crane manufacturers abandoned the use of cantilever jib designs. As a substitute, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, using luffing jibs became the regular method.
Manufacturers based within Europe were also really important in the design and development of tower cranes. Construction areas on the continent were usually tight areas. Having to depend on rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, became very costly and inconvenient. A number of manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. 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.
These particular cranes have long jibs and can cover a larger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of building and anchoring cranes in a building's lift shaft. Afterwards, this is the method which became the industry standard.
The main focus on tower crane development and design from the 1960s began on covering a higher load moment, covering a larger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. Furthermore, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most essential developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.