DALLAS (AP) — 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.
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