A company that recently won a state contract to pave the first section of the Interstate 69 extension to Evansville agreed in December to pay $8.2 million to settle fraud claims alleging that it switched road core samples to hide inadequate work.

Gohmann Asphalt and Construction Inc. was awarded a $25.23 million contract this month to build a 1.77-mile section of the highway from I-64 near Evansville to Indiana 68.

Environmental activists said the contract, coming four months after federal prosecutors reached a settlement with Gohmann, raises questions about the quality of work the company will perform on the first section of the 142-mile highway between Evansville and Indianapolis.

Tom Tokarski, president of the Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads, believes that by awarding the contract to Gohmann the state is "cutting corners" to reduce the overall cost of the full highway, which is projected at between $1.73 billion and $1.83 billion.

"When you try to do things on the cheap, you get cheap products, and that''s what''s going to happen, I''m afraid," said Tokarski, whose group opposes the I-69 project. "I see no reason for the state to reward a company that has defrauded them. Are there no other contractors out there?"

Mike Kopp, the company''s general counsel, declined to comment on the new contract and the December settlement when reached by telephone Tuesday at his office.

In February, Gohmann won a $70,000 contract from the Indiana Department of Transportation to clear the land and raze homes in the 1.77-mile section.

This month, the Clarksville company was the lowest of five bidders when INDOT let a contract to pave that section and build bridges and interchanges. That work is slated to begin by midsummer.

The 1.77-mile segment is part of a 13-mile section of I-69 running from Evansville to Oakland City that Indiana has already received federal approval to build.

INDOT spokesman Andy Dietrick said all the bidders on the 1.77- mile stretch came in below the agency''s engineering cost estimate on the project of $41.85 million.

Although the contract has been awarded to Gohmann, he said the state - as part of standard procedures - is now checking to see whether the company has the necessary finances to complete the project, that it has the appropriate licenses and is bonded and insured.

If any of those criteria are found lacking, he said INDOT can withdraw from the contract.

Dietrick said INDOT is satisfied that as long as Gohmann follows the terms of its December settlement with federal prosecutors based in Louisville, Ky., "that gives us the assurance that they''re going to do the work according to our specifications on this project.

"We would have not awarded the contract if we didn''t think they''re going to do a good job," he said.

The U.S. Attorney''s Office in Louisville had accused Gohmann of fraudulently inflating payments it received for 132 road projects in Kentucky and Indiana by swapping asphalt core samples extracted from points along those roads.

Laboratory tests on the asphalt density in those samples were used by Indiana and Kentucky to determine how much Gohmann would be paid, according to a December statement from federal prosecutors.

"Gohmann''s employees fraudulently swapped "good" cores - cores with density believed to be in the required range - for "bad" cores - cores with failing density - thereby attempting to ensure that Gohmann received full compensation for the density factor per ton of asphalt applied ...," that release stated.

Under its overall $8.2 million settlement, Gohmann paid Indiana more than $362,000.

Tim Maloney of the Hoosier Environmental Council said Tuesday that the state''s awarding of the new contract to Gohmann "should raise red flags for everybody in Indiana who''s concerned about accountability in government and government contractors."