Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Throughout the 1950s in the tower crane industry, there were numerous significant developments in the design of these huge cranes. Numerous manufacturers were started making bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These machinery dominated the construction business for 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 eventually, the use of luffing jibs became the standard practice.
Manufacturers based in Europe were also really important in the design and development of tower cranes. Construction locations on the continent were normally constricted places. Relying on rail systems to transport a large number of tower cranes, became too inconvenient and costly. A number of manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These kinds of cranes were equipped 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 building upwards.
The long jibs on these specific cranes additionally covered a larger work area. All of these developments resulted in the practice of building and anchoring cranes inside a building's lift shaft. Afterwards, 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 bigger job radius, climbing mechanisms and technology, faster erection strategies, and new control systems. Furthermore, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most significant developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.