DALLAS -- An engineering firm hired by Texas A&M University
to study its tentlike athletic complex says the facility wasn't
built to withstand the maximum winds prescribed by the building
code.
The analysis by the Houston structural engineering firm Haynes
Whaley Associates suggests that the McFerrin Athletic Center was
built according to a flawed design. That design is similar to that
of the collapsed Dallas Cowboys' practice facility.
Both were built by Summit Structures LLC of Allentown, Pa.
Documents obtained by The Associated Press under the Texas
Public Information Act show that Haynes Whaley believed the
McFerrin Center couldn't withstand the 90 mph winds specified by
national standards. Summit has added a series of cables to the
facility's steel frame in response, the documents show.
