BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) – A state subcontractor was ordered to pay $500,000 to the government Tuesday for lying about the use of steel reinforcements on a major highway project.

Wallingford-based United Concrete Products Inc. acknowledged that it stated falsely on documents submitted to government officials that its concrete catch basins and other drainage components used on Interstate 95 had sufficient steel reinforcements.

The defective materials, supplied in 2001, were repaired and replaced, and there is no longer any safety hazard to motorists, officials said.

The company pleaded guilty in May in U.S. District Court to a felony charge of making a false statement.

The project involves the widening and reconstruction of I-95 in the Bridgeport area. The materials supplied by United Concrete were not related to a highway overpass that melted last year in the fiery crash of a fuel oil tanker truck, officials said.

But the drainage structures supplied by the company could have posed long-term problems had inspectors not detected the deficiencies, state officials said at the time.

The company agreed to pay $500,000 to the government, including a $1,000 fine and a payment of $499,000 to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“This prosecution should serve as a wake-up call to all government contractors that receive federal funding,” said U.S. Attorney Kevin O’Connor. “Perform the work and install the products required or you will be held accountable in federal court.”

AP-ES-08-23-05 1725EDT