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 variety of manufacturers were beginning to make more bottom slewing cranes that had telescoping mast. These kinds of machinery dominated the construction industry for both apartment block and office construction. Lots of of the top tower crane manufacturers abandoned the use of cantilever jib designs. Instead, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, the use of luffing jibs became the regular method.
Within Europe, there were key improvements being made in the design and development of tower cranes. Usually, construction locations were tight areas. Depending on rail systems to move several tower cranes, became too expensive and difficult. Some manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These types of cranes were equipped with self-climbing mechanisms which allowed sections of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it can grow along with the structures it was constructing upwards.
The long jibs on these specific cranes additionally covered a bigger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of building and anchoring cranes in a building's lift shaft. After that, 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, climbing mechanisms and technology, faster erection strategies, and new control systems. Additionally, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most essential developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.