Tower cranes are being used often for big building construction projects. They are required for the heavy lifting and positioning of materials and machines. Tower cranes offer a different design that offers a lot of benefits over more traditional cranes. These advantages include: higher vertical lift, quiet electrical operation, increased capacities, and reduced space requirements.
Hammerhead Crane
The hammerhead crane is usually associated with a tower crane. The long horizontal jib is attached to a vertical tower, in this case. One end of the jib extends horizontally over the worksite and the other end of the jib acts as a counterweight. On the hammerhead crane, there is a trolley. This trolley holds 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
Self-erecting cranes are usually assembled on location with the assistance of another crane. This provides a huge advantage in setup time and really saves time in equipment costs too. Self-erecting cranes are often remote-controlled from the ground, even if there are several models that have an operator cab built onto the jib.
Self-erecting cranes are usually freestanding and this allows 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
Nearly all urban work settings do not have enough clearance or space for the jib to freely rotate without existing buildings blocking its movement. A luffing jib tower crane is great for such confined spaces. Most tower cranes have a fixed horizontal jib. The driver is able to lower or raise a luffing jib in order to enable the crane to swing in a reduced radius.