Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Throughout the 1950s in the tower crane industry, there were many important developments in the design of these huge cranes. Numerous manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These kinds of machinery dominated the construction market for both apartment block and office construction. Many of the leading tower crane manufacturers didn't use cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and eventually, the use of luffing jibs became the standard method.
Manufacturers based within Europe were also really important in the design and development of tower cranes. Construction sites on the continent were often constricted places. Having to depend on rail systems to transport several tower cranes, became very costly and difficult. Some manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These types of cranes were outfitted with self-climbing mechanisms which 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 additionally covered a larger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes inside a building's lift shaft. Afterwards, this is the method which became the industry standard.
From the 1960s, the main focus on tower crane design and development started to cover a higher load moment, covering a bigger job radius, climbing mechanisms and technology, faster erection strategies, 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.