Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
During the 1950s in the tower crane business, there were numerous significant developments in the design of these large cranes. Many different manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These equipments dominated the construction industry for office and apartment block construction. A lot of of the top tower crane manufacturers discarded the use of cantilever jib designs. Instead, they made the switch to luffing jibs and eventually, utilizing luffing jibs became the regular practice.
Manufacturers based within Europe were also heavily important in the development and design of tower cranes. Construction sites on the continent were usually tight places. Depending on rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, became too expensive and difficult. Some manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These cranes were equipped with self-climbing mechanisms that allowed parts 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 particular cranes additionally covered a bigger work area. All of these developments resulted in the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes in a building's lift shaft. Then, this is the technique which became the industry standard.
The main focus on tower crane development and design from the 1960s started on covering a higher load moment, covering a larger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, 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.