Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
In the 1950s in the tower crane business, there were numerous important developments in the design of these large cranes. Numerous manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These types of machines dominated the construction business for both office and apartment block construction. Many of the top tower crane manufacturers abandoned the use of cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, utilizing luffing jibs became the regular practice.
Within Europe, there were key improvements being made in the design and development of tower cranes. Usually, construction locations were constricted areas. Relying upon rail systems to transport a large number of tower cranes, ended up being very expensive and inconvenient. 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 allowed parts of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it could grow along with the structures it was constructing upwards.
The long jibs on these specific cranes also covered a larger work area. All of these developments precipitated the practice of erecting and anchoring cranes in a building's lift shaft. After that, this is the technique 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 larger job radius, climbing mechanisms and technology, faster erection strategies, and new control systems. Furthermore, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most significant developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.