For big building construction projects, tower cranes are utilized rather often. These machines are rather essential for heavy lifting as well as positioning supplies and equipment. Tower cranes provide a unique configuration which provides numerous benefits over more conventional cranes. These advantages include: higher vertical lift, quiet electrical operation, increased capacities, and reduced space requirements.
Hammerhead Crane
A hammerhead crane is another design which is most often associated with a tower crane. In this situation, a long horizontal jib is attached 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 holds the lifting cable and can travel along the length of the jib. The tower crane is capable of operating anywhere in the jib's radius.
Self-Erecting Tower Cranes
Self-erecting cranes are often assembled on site with the help of a different crane. This provides a huge benefit in setup time and greatly saves time in equipment costs as well. Self-erecting cranes are normally remote-controlled from the ground, although there are some models which have an operator cab built onto the jib.
Self-erecting cranes are normally freestanding and this enables them the opportunity to be able to be moved around. There are some models which have a telescoping tower that allows the crane to work at multiple heights without the need to reconfigure the tower.
Luffing Jib Tower Crane
Usually, in urban work environments, there is not enough clearance or space for the jib to freely rotate without being blocked by existing buildings. A luffing jib tower crane is great for such confined areas. The majority of tower cranes have a fixed horizontal jib. The operator can raise or lower a luffing jib in order to enable the crane to swing in a reduced radius.