Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the 1950s in the tower crane industry, there were numerous significant developments in the design of these large cranes. Numerous manufacturers were started making bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These kinds of machines dominated the construction industry for apartment block and office construction. A lot of of the top tower crane manufacturers didn't use cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, the use of luffing jibs became the regular method.
Within Europe, there were key improvements being made in the design and development of tower cranes. Often, construction sites were constricted places. Depending on rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, ended up being very costly and inconvenient. Some manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These kinds of cranes were outfitted with self-climbing mechanisms which enabled sections of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it could grow along with the structures it was constructing upwards.
The long jibs on these particular cranes additionally covered a bigger work area. All of these developments precipitated the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes in a building's lift shaft. After that, this is the method that 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, climbing mechanisms and technology, faster erection strategies, and new control systems. Moreover, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most essential developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.