Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Within the tower crane business, the 1950s featured numerous important milestones in tower crane design and development. There were a range of manufacturers were beginning to produce more bottom slewing cranes which had telescoping mast. These machines dominated the construction business for both apartment block and office construction. A lot of of the leading tower crane manufacturers didn't utilize cantilever jib designs. Instead, they made the switch to luffing jibs and eventually, the use of luffing jibs became the standard practice.
Manufacturers based within Europe were also heavily important in the design and development of tower cranes. Construction areas on the continent were usually constricted areas. Relying on rail systems to transport several tower cranes, ended up being too difficult and expensive. Some manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes which 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 could cover a larger work area. All of these developments resulted in the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes in the lift shaft of a building. Afterwards, this is the method that 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. Moreover, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most essential developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.