#FixVicRoads: ‘Corrupt’ asphalt companies accused of road repair rip-off, frauding quotes, cutting short

Industry insiders have come forward to expose “corrupt” asphalting companies who are allegedly using fraudulent quotes and shortcuts to inflate profit margins on taxpayer-funded jobs.

Industry insiders and experts have come forward with explosive allegations that rogue asphalting companies are skimping on road repair works and pocketing thousands of dollars on taxpayer funded jobs.

Multiple confidential sources who worked in the asphalting industry have told the Herald Sun “corrupt” companies are allegedly pressuring their maintenance workers to “cut short” on road repair contracts.

This means crews are allegedly ripping up and replacing less bitumen than ordered by the state government, but still charging for the full scope of repairs — sparking calls for the Allan government to investigate.

It comes after dozens of complaints from motorists following the launch of the Herald Sun’s #FixVicRoads campaign, who say Victoria’s roads aren’t being fixed properly and that asphalting works are breaking up within “days, weeks” of being laid.

Motorists say roads are crumbling within days of being repaired across Victoria. Picture: Mark Stewart

One whistleblower who spent 18 years in the industry said multiple contractors he worked for had asked him to “cut short” jobs to increase profit margins.

“Usually, patch jobs require contractors to rip out 150mm of asphalt and replace the failed pavement,” he said.

“What a contractor will do, they’ll only replace about 120mm of the asphalt, but they’ll tell the government that they’ve laid 150mm.

“They’ll tell (the government) that they’ve ordered that amount of asphalt and they’ll send a bill for that 150mm thick.”

Road works bosses are then allegedly pocketing “massive” savings between $6000 and $10,000 a night on patching and resurfacing jobs, all while keeping this from authorities by falsifying reporting repair works back to the government, the insiders claimed.

“They basically pocket that money and don’t put the proper thickness back into the road,” one source said. “This causes massive, massive problems.”

Confidential sources allege asphalting companies are skimping on works to pocket extra cash on state-funded jobs. Picture: Mark Stewart

‘Quite a widespread practice’

In an exclusive interview with the Herald Sun, professor of civil and infrastructure engineering Filippo Giustozzi pulled back the curtain on the alleged rort, saying cutting short was “quite a widespread practice, and not just in Australia”.

The engineering expert has been involved in road and airport construction sites since 2008, working in various positions including as a technical consultant for contractors, site supervisor, forensic investigator and engineering expert witness.

Mr Giustozzi said he’d witnessed mistakes on numerous construction sites during his time in the industry – and said the alleged road rort was not just occurring on small projects.

“It also extends to new road constructions and large-scale maintenance projects, and this is perhaps the more concerning aspect,” he said.

“Would you feel safe living in a house where the roof beams were 20 per cent smaller than what was required? Or driving over a bridge that used 20 per cent less reinforcement steel than planned?”

Mr Giustozzi said most road construction takes place at night or on weekends “when road authorities are not present to oversee operations”.

He said both local and state governments should be allocating part of their construction budgets to engaging experienced consultants for more constant supervision.

“In Australia, it’s common for asphalt contractors not to be monitored by the client or by a consultant acting on their behalf during the construction phase,” he said.

“A lack of on-site oversight can introduce numerous failure points that ultimately shorten the road’s service life.”

Sources say a lack of supervision on road repair jobs has allowed contractors to get away with cutting short. Picture: Lucy Callander

The concerns were echoed by insiders who said that cowboy contractors were getting away with the alleged rort because they weren’t being properly supervised by the Department of Transport.

“The contractors wouldn’t do it if they had enough supervision out on site,” one source said.

The whistleblower said contractors would tell workers to complete the full job when they “got an inkling that a supervisor was going to come out” in order to keep the scheme under wraps.

“I know for a fact that (one contractor) wanted me to cut short nearly on every job that we did,” he said.

“They’re not the only company doing this.”

Civil engineering lecturer at RMIT Jaspreet Pooni said, if occurring, the alleged substandard road resurfacing would “considerably reduce the lifespan” of roads.

He said the average freeway and highway in Victoria had to be resurfaced every 10 to 20 years, but dodgy repair work could effectively halve this.

“What you would find is you would require far more ­frequent maintenance on these roads,” he said.

Mr Pooni said roads across the state were already “far from” the adequate standard.

“These roads, they’re not being maintained to the level of service there needs to be for the public, for safety,” he said.

Experts say the alleged rort could wipe years off our roads’ lifespans. Picture: Mark Stewart

Government denies allegations

But when contacted about the allegations, the Department of Transport said the claims were “completely wrong.”

A government spokesperson said the department had supervisors and surveillance officers along with other technical experts out on the roads “every single day”.

They claimed these teams were collecting more data about the condition of the state’s roads than ever before, including the depth of any patching and total area treated by contractors.

“All of our planned works – including patching – are subject to inspection by our team of supervisors and surveillance officers,” a government spokesperson said.

“There has been no cut to supervisors.”

The department said its inspections had not indicated any widespread concerns about the standard of road repairs.

In the last five years, the department said there had been only one instance of a subcontractor failing to meet standard of work on the roads, and that they were required to return to the site and re-complete works at no expense to taxpayers.

Insiders say they have been instructed to ‘cut short’ when supervisors aren’t on site.

But insiders said the allegedly dodgy contractors were able to cut short without being detected by the government.

“Sometimes they send trucks back, but they haven’t actually used the asphalt, or … they’ve dumped the asphalt at the yard,” the source said.

“You’re making like 40 per cent on it sometimes. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars on a job profit.”

Chief executive of the Australian Flexible Pavement Association (AFPA) — the peak body representing asphalt workers and bitumen suppliers — Tony Aloisio explained that workers were required to deliver to the specifications outlined in project contracts, which can vary between road type and damage.

He said that while some contracts explicitly stated the tonnage of asphalt required for a job, others outlined square metreage or the total price of the package, which contractors could potentially “find their way around.”

But Mr Aloisio said AfPA had not received any concerns from the government about substandard repairs to roads.

“At the end of the day, it’s signed off by the client, whether that’s DTP or local government,” he said.

“We expect our members to have the integrity of the industry at heart and so we would (pursue) some pretty serious consequences from an AfPA membership point of view,” he said.

Shadow roads minister Danny O’Brien demanded the government investigate the claims.

“The government needs to investigate these allegations and ensure that Victorian taxpayers are getting value for money,” he said.

“There is a deep frustration in the community that road works are completed and break up again within weeks or months and that is something the government also needs to address.”

The state government revealed this month it had repaired more than 211,000 individual potholes this financial year.

Originally published as #FixVicRoads: ‘Corrupt’ asphalt companies accused of road repair rip-off, frauding quotes, cutting short