Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the tower crane business, the 1950s showcased numerous significant milestones in tower crane development and design. There were a range of manufacturers were beginning to produce more bottom slewing cranes that had telescoping mast. These kinds of machinery dominated the construction business for both office and apartment block construction. Many of the leading tower crane manufacturers discarded the use of cantilever jib designs. As a substitute, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, the use of luffing jibs became the standard practice.
In Europe, there were major improvements being made in the development and design of tower cranes. Usually, construction locations were constricted places. Having to depend on rail systems to transport a large number of tower cranes, ended up being very costly and difficult. 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 sections of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it can grow along with the structures it was building upwards.
These specific cranes have long jibs and can cover a larger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of building and anchoring cranes inside a building's lift shaft. After that, 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 bigger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. In addition, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most essential developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.