July 30, 2008: An overloaded crane collapsed beneath a bridge spanning the Colorado River in the central Texas town of Smithville.The Associated Press: Crane dismantling Texas bridge collapses; 1 dead (July 30, 2008) Two construction workers were struck by the machine, one of them fatally.The Associated Press: Crane dismantling Texas bridge collapses; 1 dead (July 30, 2008) The accident follows a spate of crane-related accidents in 2008, the most recent being a collapse in Bellevue, Washington, with no injuries reported.Daily Kos (blog): Cranes Collapsing, Banks Collapsing (July 29, 2008)

The Smithville accident is the latest in a rash of crane collapses across the U.S. Cranes have caused more deaths in 2008 than in the previous ten years combined.MSNBC: 4 dead, 6 injured in Houston crane collapse (July 18, 2008) Previous fatal incidents have occurred in Houston, New York City, Las Vegas and Miami. The trend has been attributed to a lack of adequate testing of machinery.New York Sun: Experts Say Cranes Aren't Tested Enough (May 31, 2008)