Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the tower crane industry, 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 machinery dominated the construction business for both apartment block and office construction. Many of the leading tower crane manufacturers didn't utilize cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, utilizing luffing jibs became the standard method.
Within Europe, there were key improvements being made in the development and design of tower cranes. Often, construction sites were tight places. Relying on rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, ended up being very expensive and difficult. A number of manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These 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.
These specific cranes have long jibs and could cover a larger work area. All of these developments precipitated the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes inside a building's lift shaft. Then, this is the method which 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 larger 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, amongst other things.