For huge building construction projects, tower cranes are used rather frequently. These machines are quite essential for heavy lifting as well as positioning supplies and equipment. Tower cranes offer a unique configuration which offers many benefits over more traditional cranes. These advantages consist of: quiet electrical operation, higher vertical lift, increased capacities, and reduced space requirements.
Hammerhead Crane
A hammerhead crane is another design that is most often associated with a tower crane. In this case, 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
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 costs and provides a huge benefit in setup time as well. Self-erecting cranes are normally remote-controlled from the ground, though there are several models which have an operator cab built onto the jib.
Self-erecting cranes are normally freestanding and this allows them the opportunity to be able to be moved around. There are several models that have a telescoping tower which allows the crane to work at various heights without the need to reconfigure the tower.
Luffing Jib Tower Crane
Most urban work environments do not have enough clearance or space for the jib to rotate freely without existing buildings blocking its movement. A luffing jib tower crane is great for such tight areas. The majority of tower cranes have a fixed horizontal jib. The driver could raise or lower a luffing jib in order to allow the crane to swing in a reduced radius.