Hydraulic truck cranes are a specific kind of mobile crane. These cranes make use of hydraulics and can lift thousands of pounds. Hydraulics makes use of forces being transmitted through oil pushing on the boom's pistons in opposite directions in order to lift thousands of pounds. Hydraulic truck cranes are important in building major projects such as bridges, airports, streets and buildings. A crane could complete in minutes jobs which will normally take many hours and hundreds of men to complete.
These remarkable equipments have played a vital part in constructing cities, houses, entire nations and individual buildings throughout the ages. Even the Great Pyramids within Egypt were probably built using basic cranes to allow the heaviest materials in one of the most remarkable construction projects ever.
The first cranes were established in 3000 B.C. Egypt in the reign of King Ramses. This lifting mechanism was first used to collect water. The very first official "cranes" appeared in Ancient Greece. These mechanism were used to create an entire nation in the 5th century B.C.
These cranes were initially made out of wood. The designs of cranes started to change when dockyards started to need stronger and bigger machinery. Hick & Rothwell developed the very first cast iron cranes in the year 1834, within Bolton, England. This equipment was capable of lifting as much as 2 tons. That very same year, wire ropes were added to the crane by Herr Albert Sr. who was an Official of the German Superior Board. The wire rope made the crane stronger and more durable. This addition allowed cranes to have a larger capacity to lift heavy weights.
The wire ropes were weaved together forming a more powerful rope with even more strength. The newly formed wire also added more flexibility. Germany began to build cast iron cranes 4 years later. The first cast iron crane made by Germany was built in Neuburg.