Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Throughout the 1950s in the tower crane business, there were many important developments in the design of these huge cranes. Many different manufacturers were started producing bottom slewing cranes with a telescoping mast. These machines dominated the construction market for both apartment block and office construction. Many of the leading tower crane manufacturers didn't utilize cantilever jib designs. In its place, they made the switch to luffing jibs and eventually, the use of luffing jibs became the regular method.
In Europe, there were major improvements being made in the design and development of tower cranes. Often, construction locations were tight areas. Relying on rail systems to move a large number of tower cranes, ended up being too difficult and costly. Some manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes that had hook heights of 80 meters or 262 feet. These 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 bigger work area. All of these developments precipitated the practice of building and anchoring cranes inside a building's lift shaft. Then, this is the technique 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 bigger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. Furthermore, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most important developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.