Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
During the 1950s in the tower crane business, there were many important developments in the design of these big cranes. Numerous manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These machines dominated the construction industry for office and apartment block construction. Lots of of the leading tower crane manufacturers didn't use cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and eventually, utilizing luffing jibs became the standard practice.
In Europe, there were major improvements being made in the development and design of tower cranes. Usually, construction sites were constricted areas. Relying on rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, ended up being very difficult and expensive. A number of manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These types of 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 building upwards.
The long jibs on these particular cranes also covered a larger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of erecting and anchoring cranes inside the lift shaft of a building. Afterwards, 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, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. Furthermore, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most significant developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.