Worker Falls 60 Feet To His Death After Crane Topples
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Worker Falls 60 Feet To His Death After Crane Topples
A worker fell 60 feet to his death Wednesday after a crane toppled as crews dismantled an old Central Texas bridge.
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(July 30, 2008)—A worker fell 60 feet to his death Wednesday when a crane toppled as crews dismantled an old bridge over the Colorado River.

Smithville police Lt. Lonny Richardson said the man probably died instantly when he fell from the top of the old bridge and landed on construction equipment below.

Officials say the crane became overloaded and smashed into a man-lift basket with two men in it, knocking one into the ravine.

The other man was injured and taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge in Austin.

His condition wasn't available.

Richardson says both men were in their 40s and were from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Their names weren’t released.

Richardson says the crane operator wasn't injured.

Department of Transportation spokesman Marcus Cooper says work had been ongoing for months to remove the old bridge.

What's remaining of it sits next to the bridge that replaced it.

Some oil spilled into the water when the crane fell but Lower Colorado River Authority officials say the spill wasn't large.

Smithville is about 45 miles southeast of Austin.

Latest Comments

Posted by: EVE Location: Waco on Jul 31, 2008 at 11:21 AM

Seems like when somthing fails it repeats over and over again.
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Posted by: Lisa on Jul 31, 2008 at 09:16 AM

OSHA will be on their door step this morning.
[ Report Abuse ]
Posted by: c Location: waco on Jul 31, 2008 at 08:26 AM

This is another sad tragedy, along with all the other bad things that are happening it seems as if now when you turn on the news you see more and more reports of cranes falling or some type of construction accident. Prayers go out to the man that lost his life and to the other survivor of this accident and the families
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