INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The Indiana Department of Transportation wants a contractor accused of using faulty asphalt to replace a crumbling section of highway or refund $5.15 million.

The agency, in a letter to Fort Wayne-based Brooks Construction Co., gives the company until Friday to commit to replacing three miles of the Hoosier Heartland Highway near Logansport completed in 2012 or returning the money.

The Indianapolis Star reports (http://indy.st/1FBK0Mr) the letter represents the agency's first action against a contractor since acknowledging last week that it suspects as much as $71 million in faulty asphalt was used in 188 projects across the state.

Brooks Construction co-owner John Brooks says the company followed the state's specifications for asphalt on the Hoosier Heartland project and that the asphalt repeatedly passed state testing.