Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the tower crane business, the 1950s showcased numerous important milestones in tower crane design and development. There were a range of manufacturers were beginning to make more bottom slewing cranes that had telescoping mast. These equipments dominated the construction market for both 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 in time, using luffing jibs became the regular method.
In Europe, there were major improvements being made in the development and design of tower cranes. Often, construction sites were tight places. Having to rely on rail systems to move several tower cranes, ended up being very difficult and expensive. A number of manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These cranes were outfitted with self-climbing mechanisms which enabled parts 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 specific cranes also covered a bigger work area. All of these developments resulted in the practice of building and anchoring cranes inside the lift shaft of a building. After that, this is the technique 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 important developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.