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.

Although the University has not responded to the media about these findings, A&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne did address the issue in his weekly comments on the university's website. Here is some of his response to the consultant's findings:

1. Upon completion of construction, our engineers certified the indoor facilities to 90 mph wind bursts. In September, a new independent consultant, brought in by the University, initially recommended we not use the facility. This caused considerable debate, since we had recently experienced Hurricane Ike with no problems, and our buildings had significant structural improvements as compared to similar facilities.

2. After much conversation among the various architects and engineers involved, it was decided the buildings could be used in winds up to 60 mph. We established a safety protocol, including use and evacuation procedures.

3. After more study, based on an actual engineering examination of the building, the advice from some of the engineers was to install reinforced cabling into the sidewalls and ends of both buildings to make doubly certain they were safe. That was accomplished without any disruption of the buildings use.

4. After the reinforcements were added (at no cost to us by the way), the football side of the building was again certified to 90 mph wind gusts and the track side certified to 75 mph wind gusts. More tests were scheduled to take the track side to 90 mph. This will ensure the buildings meet standard building code requirements for all buildings on the Texas A&M campus.

We have provided a link below to that site.