Tower cranes are being used often for huge building construction projects. They are required for the heavy lifting and positioning of materials and machines. Tower cranes provide a different configuration which provides a lot of benefits over more conventional cranes. These advantages consist of: quiet electrical operation, higher vertical lift, reduced space requirements and increased capacities.
Hammerhead Crane
A hammerhead crane is another design which is most typically associated with a tower crane. In this case, a long horizontal jib is connected to a vertical tower. One end of the jib acts as a counterweight and the other end of the jib extends horizontally over the worksite. There is a trolley on the hammerhead crane. This trolley has the lifting cable and travels along the length of the jib. The tower crane can operate anywhere within the jib's radius.
Self-Erecting Tower Cranes
A self-erecting crane is capable of completely assembling itself at the jobsite without any help from a secondary crane. This greatly saves time in equipment expenses and provides a huge benefit in setup time too. Self-erecting cranes are normally remote-controlled from the ground, though there are some models which have an operator cab built onto the jib.
Self-erecting cranes are usually freestanding and this enables them the opportunity to be able to be moved around. There are several models which have a telescoping tower that enables the crane to work at multiple heights without the need to reconfigure the tower.
Luffing Jib Tower Crane
The majority of urban work settings do not have enough space or clearance for the jib to rotate freely without existing buildings blocking its movement. A luffing jib tower crane is ideal for such tight areas. Most tower cranes have a fixed horizontal jib. The driver can raise or lower a luffing jib in order to allow the crane to swing in a reduced radius.