Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Within the tower crane business, the 1950s featured numerous important milestones in tower crane design and development. There were a range of manufacturers were beginning to produce more bottom slewing cranes which had telescoping mast. These machinery dominated the construction business for both apartment block and office construction. Many of the leading 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.
Manufacturers based in Europe were also heavily influential in the design and development of tower cranes. Construction areas on the continent were normally tight areas. Relying upon rail systems to transport a large number of tower cranes, ended up being very expensive and difficult. Some manufacturers were providing 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 specific cranes additionally covered a larger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of erecting and anchoring cranes in a building's lift shaft. After that, this is the method which 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, 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.