Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Within the tower crane industry, the 1950s featured many important milestones in tower crane development and design. There were a variety of manufacturers were beginning to make more bottom slewing cranes that had telescoping mast. These kinds of machinery dominated the construction industry for both apartment block and office construction. A lot of of the leading tower crane manufacturers didn't utilize cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, using luffing jibs became the standard method.
Within Europe, there were key improvements being made in the design and development of tower cranes. Often, construction sites were constricted areas. Having to rely on rail systems to transport several tower cranes, became very inconvenient and expensive. Some manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These kinds 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 constructing upwards.
The long jibs on these specific cranes also covered a larger work area. All of these developments precipitated the practice of constructing and anchoring cranes inside the lift shaft of a building. After that, this is the method that became the industry standard.
The main focus on tower crane design and development from the 1960s began on covering a higher load moment, covering a larger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. Furthermore, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most significant developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.