Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the 1950s in the tower crane industry, there were numerous significant developments in the design of these large cranes. Many different manufacturers were started making bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These machinery dominated the construction business for both office and apartment block construction. A lot of of the top tower crane manufacturers discarded the use of cantilever jib designs. Instead, they made the switch to luffing jibs and eventually, using luffing jibs became the standard method.
Manufacturers based within Europe were also heavily influential in the development and design of tower cranes. Construction sites on the continent were often tight areas. Having to depend upon rail systems to transport a large number of tower cranes, became very difficult and costly. Some manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These cranes were equipped 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 constructing upwards.
These specific cranes have long jibs and could cover a bigger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of building and anchoring cranes inside the lift shaft of a building. Afterwards, this is the method 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. Furthermore, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most important developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.