Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
During the 1950s in the tower crane business, there were numerous important developments in the design of these large cranes. Many different manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These types of machinery dominated the construction industry for both apartment block and office 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, utilizing luffing jibs became the standard method.
Manufacturers based within Europe were also really influential in the development and design of tower cranes. Construction sites on the continent were often constricted places. Depending on rail systems to transport several tower cranes, ended up being too costly and difficult. Some manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These types of cranes were outfitted with self-climbing mechanisms which allowed parts of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it could grow along with the structures it was building upwards.
These specific cranes have long jibs and could cover a bigger work area. All of these developments resulted in the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes in a building's lift shaft. Afterwards, this is the method which became the industry standard.
From the 1960s, the main focus on tower crane design and development started to cover a higher load moment, covering a bigger 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, amongst other things.