Early Crane Evolution
More than 4000 years ago, early Egyptians made the first recorded version of a crane. The original device was called a shaduf and was first utilized to transport water. The crane was made out of a pivoting long beam which balanced on a vertical support. On one end a bucket was connected and on the other end of the beam, a heavy weight was attached.
In the first century, cranes were built to be powered by animals or humans that were moving on a treadmill or a wheel. These cranes had a long wooden boom called a beam. The boom was attached to a base which rotates. The treadmill or the wheel was a power-driven operation that had a drum with a rope which wrapped around it. This rope additionally had a hook that lifted the weight and was attached to a pulley at the top of the boom.
In Europe, the huge cathedrals established in the Middle Ages were build utilizing cranes. Cranes were also designed to unload and load ships in major ports. Eventually, significant crane design developments evolved. Like for instance, a horizontal boom was added to and was referred to as the jib. This boom addition allowed cranes to have the ability to pivot, hence really increasing the range of motion for the machine. After the 16th century, each side of a rotating housing which held the boom incorporated two treadmills.
Cranes used humans and animals for power until the mid-19th century. This all changes rapidly when steam engines were developed. At the turn of the century, Internal combustion or IC engines as well as electric motors emerged. Cranes also became designed out of cast iron and steel as opposed to wood. The new designs proved more efficient and longer lasting. They could obviously run longer too with their new power sources and thus complete larger jobs in less time.