Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Within the tower crane business, the 1950s featured many important milestones in tower crane development and design. There were a range of manufacturers were starting to make more bottom slewing cranes that had telescoping mast. These machines dominated the construction business for office and apartment block construction. A lot of of the top tower crane manufacturers didn't use cantilever jib designs. As an alternative, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, the use of luffing jibs became the standard practice.
Manufacturers based in Europe were also heavily influential in the development and design of tower cranes. Construction locations on the continent were normally tight places. Having to depend upon rail systems to transport several tower cranes, became very costly and difficult. Some manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These cranes were outfitted 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 precipitated the practice of building and anchoring cranes inside the lift shaft of a building. Then, this is the method that 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, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. Additionally, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most significant developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.