Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Within the tower crane industry, the 1950s featured numerous significant milestones in tower crane development and design. There were a range of manufacturers were beginning to produce more bottom slewing cranes that had telescoping mast. These equipments dominated the construction industry for apartment block and office construction. Lots of 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, using luffing jibs became the regular practice.
Manufacturers based within Europe were also heavily important in the design and development of tower cranes. Construction areas on the continent were usually tight areas. Having to rely on rail systems to move several tower cranes, became very expensive and inconvenient. A number of manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These types of cranes were outfitted 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 constructing upwards.
These specific cranes have long jibs and could cover a larger work area. All of these developments resulted in the practice of erecting and anchoring cranes in the lift shaft of a building. Then, this is the method which became the industry standard.
The main focus on tower crane design and development from the 1960s started on covering a higher load moment, covering a larger job radius, climbing mechanisms and technology, faster erection strategies, and new control systems. In addition, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most essential developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.