Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Throughout the 1950s in the tower crane industry, there were many important developments in the design of these big cranes. Many different manufacturers were started making bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These machinery dominated the construction business for office and apartment block construction. A lot of of the leading tower crane manufacturers didn't use cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and in time, using luffing jibs became the standard practice.
Within Europe, there were major improvements being made in the design and development of tower cranes. Usually, construction sites were constricted areas. Relying upon rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, became too difficult and expensive. Some manufacturers were providing saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These kinds of cranes were equipped with self-climbing mechanisms which enabled sections of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it could grow along with the structures it was constructing upwards.
These particular cranes have long jibs and can cover a larger work area. All of these developments precipitated the practice of erecting and anchoring cranes in a building's lift shaft. Afterwards, this is the method that became the industry standard.
The main focus on tower crane development and design from the 1960s began on covering a higher load moment, covering a bigger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. In addition, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most significant developments being made in the drive technology department, among other things.