Road builder rejects state’s demand for $5 million refund

A Fort Wayne road construction contractor is refusing demands from the state government for a $5 million refund for a section of highway that the state says is crumbling years earlier than expected.

Brooks Construction Vice President John R. Brooks said in response to the demand that the blame lies with the Indiana Department of Transportation and its own road-building specifications and inspections.

The three-mile stretch of Indiana 25 near Logansport that was completed in 2012. INDOT said it started crumbling a year later.

Brooks responded in a letter to INDOT, saying his company would not "accept legal responsibility for an industry problem caused by INDOT's specifications and quality assurance program," The Indianapolis Star reported.

The dispute is part of a widespread INDOT investigation of state road projects.

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