Post by prossman on May 7, 2009 7:36:00 GMT -7
Philadelphia Inquirer: Cowboys' builder paid for collapse here
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Cowboys' builder paid for collapse here
By Miriam Hill
Inquirer Staff Writer
When the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility collapsed Saturday, it wasn't the first problem for a fabric building built by Allentown's Summit Structures LLC.
A similar one at Philadelphia's Tioga Marine Terminal fell in a snowstorm in February 2003, resulting in a $5.9 million payment by Summit to the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, which oversees the terminal.
The 102,000-square-foot terminal structure, which was was about 60 percent filled with steel and South American forest products, fell under the weight of the snow. No one was injured in that incident, but the collapse in Dallas hurt 11 people, including a scouting assistant, Rich Behm, who is permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
Winds of about 70 m.p.h. during a storm are the prime suspect in the destruction of the 85-foot-tall Dallas structure, which Summit built in 2003 with high-tension fabric and metal.
After the Philadelphia incident, the Port Authority sued Summit for damages. In ruling against Summit, Common Pleas Court Judge Allan Tereshko said the Tioga building was not designed properly.
Summit did not meet its own design requirements or those in its contract with the Port Authority, Tereshko said in a 2006 opinion.
"These two fundamental failures produced a building which simply collapsed under the weight of the first significant snowfall of the new year which were conditions that would have been easily tolerated by the building had it been properly designed and constructed," the judge said.
Among other things, he cited a failure to account for heavy snow on the roof.
Summit Structures' president, Nathan Stobbe, said in a statement Monday that he had flown to Texas to work with representatives of the Cowboys and others to assess what happened Saturday.
The company did not answer questions about the Philadelphia case yesterday.
Representatives of the Port Authority said they were under a confidentiality agreement preventing them from discussing the terms of the settlement. But the public agency's 2008 financial report said it had received $5.9 million as part of the "Tioga Judgment - Fabric Building."
__________________
Cowboy Fan since 1960.......You young-uns stay outta my yard.
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Cowboys' builder paid for collapse here
By Miriam Hill
Inquirer Staff Writer
When the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility collapsed Saturday, it wasn't the first problem for a fabric building built by Allentown's Summit Structures LLC.
A similar one at Philadelphia's Tioga Marine Terminal fell in a snowstorm in February 2003, resulting in a $5.9 million payment by Summit to the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, which oversees the terminal.
The 102,000-square-foot terminal structure, which was was about 60 percent filled with steel and South American forest products, fell under the weight of the snow. No one was injured in that incident, but the collapse in Dallas hurt 11 people, including a scouting assistant, Rich Behm, who is permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
Winds of about 70 m.p.h. during a storm are the prime suspect in the destruction of the 85-foot-tall Dallas structure, which Summit built in 2003 with high-tension fabric and metal.
After the Philadelphia incident, the Port Authority sued Summit for damages. In ruling against Summit, Common Pleas Court Judge Allan Tereshko said the Tioga building was not designed properly.
Summit did not meet its own design requirements or those in its contract with the Port Authority, Tereshko said in a 2006 opinion.
"These two fundamental failures produced a building which simply collapsed under the weight of the first significant snowfall of the new year which were conditions that would have been easily tolerated by the building had it been properly designed and constructed," the judge said.
Among other things, he cited a failure to account for heavy snow on the roof.
Summit Structures' president, Nathan Stobbe, said in a statement Monday that he had flown to Texas to work with representatives of the Cowboys and others to assess what happened Saturday.
The company did not answer questions about the Philadelphia case yesterday.
Representatives of the Port Authority said they were under a confidentiality agreement preventing them from discussing the terms of the settlement. But the public agency's 2008 financial report said it had received $5.9 million as part of the "Tioga Judgment - Fabric Building."
__________________
Cowboy Fan since 1960.......You young-uns stay outta my yard.