Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the tower crane business, the 1950s featured many 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 equipments dominated the construction industry for both office and apartment block construction. Lots of of the leading tower crane manufacturers discarded the use of cantilever jib designs. Instead, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, using luffing jibs became the regular method.
Manufacturers based in Europe were also really influential in the development and design of tower cranes. Construction locations on the continent were often constricted places. Relying upon rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, became very difficult and costly. A number of manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These cranes were equipped with self-climbing mechanisms which 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 specific cranes additionally covered a larger work area. All of these developments precipitated the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes in the lift shaft of a building. 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 larger job radius, climbing mechanisms and technology, faster erection strategies, and new control systems. Additionally, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most essential developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.