Big Dig concrete supplier to pay $50M

BOSTON, July 28 (UPI) -- A company that admitted supplying substandard concrete to Boston's Big Dig has agreed to pay $50 million to settle the case.

Under the agreement, Aggregate Industries NE Inc., will not be barred from bidding on federal and state contracts, The Boston Globe reported. The company, the largest concrete supplier in New England, gets the majority of its business from government jobs.

U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan said Aggregate Industries probably would not have agreed to a settlement if it meant being banned from bidding on projects. An attorney for the company said that would have forced the parent company to shut Aggregate down.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and Sullivan advocate using $27 million from the settlement for a fund to pay for future maintenance on the Big Dig, the biggest urban highway project ever.

The project, already plagued by cost overruns and delays, became notorious when a chunk of concrete fell on a moving car, killing a woman.