Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Throughout the 1950s in the tower crane industry, there were many important developments in the design of these big cranes. Numerous manufacturers were started making bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These equipments dominated the construction market for both office and apartment block construction. Many of the leading tower crane manufacturers discarded the use of cantilever jib designs. Instead, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, the use of luffing jibs became the standard method.
In Europe, there were major improvements being made in the design and development of tower cranes. Usually, construction sites were constricted areas. Having to depend upon rail systems to transport several tower cranes, ended up being very difficult and costly. Some manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These kinds of cranes were equipped with self-climbing mechanisms that 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 can cover a larger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes in the lift shaft of a building. Afterwards, 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 bigger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. Additionally, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most important developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.