Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
During the 1950s in the tower crane industry, there were numerous important developments in the design of these big cranes. Numerous manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These equipments dominated the construction industry for apartment block and office construction. Many of the leading tower crane manufacturers didn't utilize cantilever jib designs. Instead, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, using luffing jibs became the regular method.
Manufacturers based within Europe were also really influential in the development and design of tower cranes. Construction locations on the continent were often tight places. Relying on rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, became very costly and inconvenient. 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 enabled sections of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it can grow along with the structures it was building upwards.
These particular cranes have long jibs and could cover a larger work area. All of these developments precipitated the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes inside a building's lift shaft. Then, this is the technique that 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, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. Moreover, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most important developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.