Aerial Work Platforms
The AWP or aerial work platform is a machinery designed and engineered to raise workers and tools to a particular height for the completion of tasks. The kind of equipment varies with the particular make and unit. Before aerial work platforms were made, all tasks needing work at high levels needed to be done with scaffolding. Therefore, the invention of aerial work platforms has increased the overall productivity of similar jobs and kept numerous employees safe.
There are 3 main types of aerial work platforms. They are scissor lifts, boomlifts and mechanical lifts. These equipment could be operated with pneumatics, mechanically using a pinion and rack system or with screws or by hydraulics. These units may be self-propelled with controls at the platform, they may be unpowered models requiring an external force to move them or be mounted to a vehicle in order to be transported.
John L. Grove was an American inventor and industrialist who is widely credited to devising the aerial work platform. Nevertheless, in the year 1966, prior to the first unit of JLG, a company called Selma Manlift introduced an aerial lift model.
During 1967, after selling his previous company Grove Manufacturing, John L. Grove together with his wife decided to take a road trip. They decided to make a stop at Hoover Dam. While the couple was there, Grove unfortunately witnessed 2 workers electrocuted while they were working on scaffolding. This tragic incident led John Grove to discover an untapped market for a new product that can raise workers safely in the air for them to do construction and maintenance tasks in a better way.
John bought a small metal fabrication business and formed a partnership along with 2 friends, when he returned home from his trip. The small company soon started designing ideas for the aerial work platform. The new business was called JLG Industries Inc. They proudly launched their very first aerial work platform in the year 1920 with the aid of 20 workers.