Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the 1950s in the tower crane industry, there were many important developments in the design of these big cranes. Numerous manufacturers were started making bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These types of machines dominated the construction business for both office and apartment block 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.
Within Europe, there were key improvements being made in the development and design of tower cranes. Often, construction locations were tight areas. Relying upon rail systems to move several tower cranes, became too expensive and inconvenient. A number of manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These cranes were outfitted with self-climbing mechanisms that 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 specific cranes additionally covered a larger work area. All of these developments resulted in the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes inside a building's lift shaft. Then, 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 bigger job radius, climbing mechanisms and technology, faster erection strategies, and new control systems. Moreover, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most significant developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.