Construction has ground to a halt on two major worksites in Quebec, including an operation on the Turcot Interchange where weekend road closures were scheduled -- and no work was completed.

Highway 10 near Carignan has been idle since the construction holiday ended earlier this month, and this weekend one of the companies working on the Turcot halted work as well.

Turcot Interchange

No work has taken place on the ramps from Highway 20 east to Highway 15 south since Friday, nor has any work been done from Highway 15 north to Highway 20 west.

Work on the ramps in question began in April and was set to wrap up at the end of the year, with overnight closures scheduled for the weekend on several ramps through the interchange. No work took place just those closures.

Tesco 3000 was responsible for the main contract for the work on the Turcot Interchange and had subcontracted repaving work to a third party; that subcontractor stopped sending employees to the Turcot Interchange on Friday.

Tesco 3000 has since set a letter to Transport Quebec saying it needs a cash advance or it will cancel the $7.8 million contract.

Mario St-Pierre of Transports Quebec said it's up to the guarantor to ensure the work is completed.

"The guarantor has to find a new contractor; this contractor has to work within the budget that was planned and within the schedule. So this is the guarantee the MTQ has with this worksite," he said.

Highway 10 work stopped

Meanwhile, the owner of the company working on Highway 10 is under investigation by the province's permanent anti-corruption squad, UPAC.

UPAC arrested Pasquale Fedele in May 2012 in the same sweep that saw former Montreal executive committee president Frank Zampino arrested.

That bust involved questionable business dealings and transactions related to the Faubourg-Contrecoeur project discussed at length during the Charbonneau Commission.

Fedele was arrested again a month later in connection with alleged collusion regarding construction contracts on the South Shore.

Transport Quebec said if Civ-Bec does not respond to its queries by Thursday, the company could lose the contract to build four overpasses.

Nearly 70 per cent of the work has been completed, and two lanes are open in each direction.

Fedele is scheduled to face court hearings in September and November for fraud-related charges.