Aerial Work Platforms
AWP or aerial work platforms are engineered and designed to elevate workers and their gear to a certain height in order to finish a task. The particular unit and manufacturer and kind of machine all varies. Before aerial work platforms were made, all tasks needing work at high levels needed to be done with scaffolding. Hence, the invention of aerial work platforms has increased the overall productivity of similar jobs and kept many employees safe.
There are 3 main types of aerial work platforms. They are mechanical lifts, scissorlifts and boomlifts. These types of machinery are able to be operated with pneumatics, mechanically via a pinion and rack system or with screws or by hydraulics. These models may be self-propelled with controls situated at the platform, they may be unpowered models requiring an external force to move them or be mounted to a vehicle so as to be transported.
John L. Grove was an American inventor and industrialist who is widely credited to developing the aerial work platform. Nonetheless, in 1966, prior to JLG's very first unit, a company called Selma Manlift launched an aerial lift unit.
In the year 1967, after selling his previous company Grove Manufacturing, John L. Grove and his wife decided to take a road trip. They opted to make a stop at Hoover Dam. While the couple was there, Grove unfortunately saw 2 workers electrocuted while they were working on scaffolding. This terrible 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 jobs in a better way.
Once John returned home from his vacation, he bought a small metal fabrication company and formed a partnership with 2 friends. They immediately started designing ideas for the aerial work platform. The new business was named JLG Industries Inc. They proudly released their first aerial work platform in the year 1920 with the aid of 20 workers.