Major road repairs throughout North Carolina came to a sudden halt last week when DeVere Construction, the subcontractor in charge of the repairs, unexpectedly left the job.
The N.C. Department of Transportation sent notices of default to DeVere regarding the abandoned projects in Mecklenburg, Buncombe and Jackson counties Jan. 29 when company workers stopped showing up for work.
Signed by the state construction engineer, the documents said DeVere’s failure to pursue the work is considered to be a material breach of the state's contract. The notice also specified the company has until Feb. 8 to return to work.
The contractor has declined to comment on the issue, but Steve Abbott, a spokesperson for the NCDOT, said it was a business decision made by the owners of DeVere.
"DeVere has until Monday to change its mind," Abbot said. "As of Monday they will be officially declared disqualified from the project."
The group had been working on expanding North Carolina highways, including Highway 74 in Charlotte, and until a new subcontractor can be hired, the highways will be left in the condition they were in when DeVere walked out.
"It's just sitting there in whatever condition it was in," Abbot said. "There are some lane closures — nothing's changing."
The responsibility of finding a new subcontractor does not fall on the NCDOT, but on a bonding company that manages contracts between businesses and the department. In this case, Liberty Mutual, which has a performance bond with the state, is now responsible for hiring a new company to complete the abandoned projects.
“This bond obligates the company to arrange for the completion of the project at the same price originally bid in case the prime contractor cannot complete the project for whatever reason,” Abbott said.
