Summit Structures

Summit was the maker of the Dallas Cowboys practice facility that collapsed on May 2, 2009 during a wind storm. The National Weather Service confirmed that a microburst impacted the Valley Ranch area (where the practice facility was situated). A microburst is an intense downdraft which results in a localized area of strong thunderstorm winds. In extreme cases, microbursts can have winds which exceed 100 mph.[1] However, a draft report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued in October 2009 and finalized in January 2010 said the Cowboys' facility collapsed in wind speeds of only 55 to 65 mph.[2] Summit's parent company, Cover-All Building Systems, Inc., of Saskatchewan, Canada, filed for bankruptcy in March 2010.[3]

The collapse left 12 Cowboys players and coaches injured. The most serious were Special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, who suffered fractured cervical vertebrae, and had surgery to stabilize fractured vertebrae in his neck; and Rich Behm, the team's 33-year-old scouting assistant who was permanently paralyzed from the waist down after his spine was severed.[4][5]

• Summit Structures