Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
During the 1950s in the tower crane business, there were numerous important developments in the design of these big cranes. Many different manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These machinery dominated the construction industry for both office and apartment block construction. Lots of of the top tower crane manufacturers abandoned the use of cantilever jib designs. Instead, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, using luffing jibs became the standard practice.
In Europe, there were major improvements being made in the development and design of tower cranes. Usually, construction locations were constricted areas. Relying upon rail systems to move several tower cranes, became very expensive and difficult. Some manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These cranes were equipped 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 constructing upwards.
These specific cranes have long jibs and can cover a bigger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of erecting and anchoring cranes in the lift shaft of a building. After that, this is the method that 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 larger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. Additionally, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most significant developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.