ROADS/BRIDGES: INDOT assesses asphalt quality of nearly 200 road projects

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) started an investigation into whether or not the pavement in nearly 200 road projects could fall apart more than a decade earlier than expected.

Will Wingfield, INDOT spokesman, said the agency is investigating whether enough asphalt binder—which acts as the “glue” of the aggregate mix—was used in the aggregate mix.

INDOT sent a letter to a Fort Wayne-based construction company demanding a complete re-do of their road construction work, or a reimbursement of the more than $5 million INDOT paid for the asphalt.

INDOT’s investigation showed cracks nearly 3 in. wide on a 3-mile stretch of pavement built just three years ago. The state also says a portion of State Road 25 in Cass County is deteriorating at an "alarming rate."

The agency is investigating 44 contractors and 188 road construction projects around the state. That amounts to $71 million worth of asphalt.

So far, INDOT has cleared 667 projects in the review that began last year.