Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Throughout the 1950s in the tower crane business, there were numerous important developments in the design of these huge cranes. Many different manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These machines dominated the construction business for both apartment block and office construction. Lots of of the leading tower crane manufacturers discarded the use of cantilever jib designs. As an alternative, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, using luffing jibs became the standard method.
Manufacturers based within Europe were also really influential in the development and design of tower cranes. Construction locations on the continent were usually constricted areas. Depending upon rail systems to move several tower cranes, ended up being very inconvenient and costly. A number of manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These 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.
The long jibs on these particular cranes additionally covered a larger work area. All of these developments precipitated the practice of building and anchoring cranes in the lift shaft of a building. After that, this is the technique which 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. In addition, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most important developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.