Aerial Work Platforms
The aerial work platform or AWP is a machine engineered and designed to elevate workers and tools to a particular height for the completion of tasks. The kind of equipment varies with the specific make and model. Before aerial work platforms were developed, all jobs that require work at high levels needed to be done with scaffolding. Thus, the invention of aerial work platforms has kept a lot of workers safe and increased the overall productivity of similar tasks.
There are 3 main kinds of aerial work platforms. They are scissor lifts, boomlifts and mechanical lifts. These equipment could be operated with pneumatics, mechanically using a rack and pinion system or by hydraulics or with screws. These models may be self-propelled with controls situated at the platform, they may be unpowered models that need an external force to move them or be mounted to a vehicle in order to be transported.
John L. Grove was an American industrialist and inventor who is widely credited to devising the aerial work platform. Nonetheless, in the year 1966, before the very first unit of JLG, a company called Selma Manlift introduced an aerial lift unit.
In the year 1967, after selling his previous business 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 witnessed 2 employees electrocuted while they were working on scaffolding. This terrible incident led John Grove to discover an untapped market for a new product that can safely lift workers in the air for them to perform maintenance and construction jobs in a better way.
John purchased a small metal fabrication company and formed a partnership with 2 friends, once he returned home from his vacation. The small company immediately started designing ideas for the aerial work platform. The new business was named JLG Industries Inc. They proudly released their very first aerial work platform in 1970 with the aid of 20 employees.