Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Within the tower crane business, the 1950s showcased many important milestones in tower crane design and development. There were a range of manufacturers were starting to make more bottom slewing cranes that had telescoping mast. These machinery dominated the construction market for apartment block and office construction. Many of the leading tower crane manufacturers abandoned the use of cantilever jib designs. As a substitute, they made the switch to luffing jibs and eventually, using luffing jibs became the regular method.
In Europe, there were key improvements being made in the development and design of tower cranes. Often, construction locations were constricted places. Having to rely upon rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, became too inconvenient and costly. A number of manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These cranes were equipped 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.
These specific cranes have long jibs and could cover a larger work area. All of these developments precipitated the practice of building and anchoring cranes inside a building's lift shaft. Then, 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 bigger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. Furthermore, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most important developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.