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. Numerous manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These equipments dominated the construction industry for office and apartment block construction. A lot of of the top tower crane manufacturers didn't use cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, the use of luffing jibs became the standard method.
Manufacturers based in Europe were also really important in the development and design of tower cranes. Construction areas on the continent were often tight areas. Depending upon rail systems to move several tower cranes, became too inconvenient and expensive. A number of manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These cranes were equipped with self-climbing mechanisms that allowed sections 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 can cover a bigger work area. All of these developments precipitated the practice of building and anchoring cranes in a building's lift shaft. After that, this is the technique that became the industry standard.
The main focus on tower crane development and design 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 important developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.