Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Throughout the 1950s in the tower crane industry, there were numerous significant developments in the design of these huge cranes. Many different manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These equipments dominated the construction market for office and apartment block construction. Lots of of the top tower crane manufacturers abandoned the use of cantilever jib designs. As an alternative, they made the switch to luffing jibs and eventually, utilizing luffing jibs became the regular method.
Within Europe, there were key improvements being made in the development and design of tower cranes. Usually, construction locations were constricted areas. Depending on rail systems to transport several tower cranes, ended up being too costly and inconvenient. Some manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These types of 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.
The long jibs on these particular cranes also covered a larger work area. All of these developments resulted in the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes inside a building's lift shaft. Afterwards, this is the technique which 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 important developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.