Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Within the tower crane business, the 1950s featured numerous important milestones in tower crane development and design. There were a variety of manufacturers were starting to make more bottom slewing cranes that had telescoping mast. These types of machinery dominated the construction market for both office and apartment block construction. Many of the top tower crane manufacturers discarded the use of cantilever jib designs. Instead, they made the switch to luffing jibs and eventually, the use of luffing jibs became the standard practice.
Within Europe, there were major improvements being made in the design and development of tower cranes. Often, construction locations were tight places. Relying upon rail systems to move 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 cranes were outfitted with self-climbing mechanisms that enabled parts of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it can grow along with the structures it was building upwards.
The long jibs on these particular cranes also 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 which became the industry standard.
The main focus on tower crane design and development from the 1960s began on covering a higher load moment, covering a larger job radius, climbing mechanisms and technology, faster erection strategies, and new control systems. In addition, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most essential developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.