Correspondence

We conducted a risk assessment to assess the adequacy of state transportation agency controls over Federal-aid highway funds used for construction projects. The risk assessment was conducted in conjunction with state Department of Transportation Audit staffs and members of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Audit Subcommittee. We previously discussed our results with individual states and released our assessment on July 28 2003 at the annual meeting of AASHTO’s Audit Subcommittee in Duluth, MN.

We found that: 1) significant project cost overruns and schedule slippages were identified in two State DOTs; 2) controls over construction payments were generally not effective at the two state DOT’s we reviewed; 3)both FHWA and State DOTs gave a low priority to audits of construction expenditures.

We provided each state audited with their individual results.