Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Throughout the 1950s in the tower crane business, there were numerous significant 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 market for office and apartment block construction. A lot of of the leading tower crane manufacturers didn't utilize cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, utilizing luffing jibs became the regular method.
In Europe, there were key improvements being made in the design and development of tower cranes. Often, construction sites were tight areas. Depending upon rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, became too expensive and difficult. Some manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These cranes were equipped with self-climbing mechanisms that enabled sections of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it can grow along with the structures it was building upwards.
The long jibs on these particular cranes additionally covered a larger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of erecting and anchoring cranes in a building's lift shaft. Then, 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 bigger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. Additionally, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most essential developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.