Work on a Melbourne highway upgrade has been shut down after the discovery of asbestos.
VicRoads says work has stopped on the Chandler Highway upgrade at Alphington, with tests confirming confirming asbestos-contaminated soil.
It comes after the CFMEU raised the alarm and blamed contractor Seymour Whyte for putting at risk the safety of workers and the public.
"The contractor would have known there was asbestos in the soil and has blatantly disregarded the knowledge," the union's occupational health and safety manager Gerry Ayers told reports near the site.
"There was no type of any dust suppression whatsoever .... there's potentially a huge amount of exposure."
At least 100 workers have been potentially exposed to the asbestos during work over the past few months, CFMEU organiser James Simpson added.
"They have moved a lot of asbestos around the site, put a lot of people in potentially harms way," he said.
VicRoads said exclusion zones had been established around areas where asbestos was found.
Work will not resume until the asbestos was removed, they added.
The government is spending $110 million to widen the Chandler Highway to six lanes and is building a new bridge, but it's not clear when works will resume.
Seymour Whyte and the office of Roads Minister Luke Donnellan directed media enquiries to VicRoads.
Premier Daniel Andrews said community safety was paramount.
"I'm not aware of what the contract arrangements have been, but the most important thing here is that work has stopped in a particular part of this project because there were concerns about the safety on that site," he told reporters.
