Tower crane often is used in high-rise building construction to improve operational efficiency. Tower crane bears not only the counterweight and hanging load but also other lateral forces while it is working. This research studied the limit load and displacement of tower crane in hanging operation and tower crane column in different forms of bracing when the maximum lateral load was applied. The nonlinear elastic-plastic pushover analysis of SAP 2000 version 7 was used to analyze those tower crane columns in different heights and different forms of bracing. The limit loads of structures, load-deflection curves, locations of plastic hinges, axial loads, shear forces and bending moments in members were studied. Analysis results were used to compare their different characteristics. Results show that X-type bracing is the best method.