Emergency works are all those who repair the damage "caused by natural events that seek to revive the walkability of a road" and are dependent of the Deputy Manager of Maintenance and Equipment of the National Road Authority (DNV).

But the General Audit Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish) detected that they were treated as urgent projects that were not with significant economic consequences. One of the most striking examples is the National Route 50 "Pescado River", on the border of the province of Salta with Bolivia.

For starters, the audit team, after analyzing the records of works, said that "are inadequate qualification as emergency work". The project was taken up by the Judicial District in July 2007, "stressing the need to work because summer is approaching."

The works performed were the construction of a main canal lined with concrete, erosion controls and conducting sewers, among others. These "are not due to surprise climate issues or matters that cannot be provided in a suitable work plan, therefore failing to meet the requirement of urgency."

To this, it adds that the Rethinking Acts, which begins the work, "was signed on June 11th 2008, i.e. one year after the lifting of the project," therefore, it loses even more sense of urgency.

In this case "the DNV authorized the Invitation for Private Bids", which is often used in emergency situations where time is not enough to make a public tender. Now with the lapses that were detailed in the previous lines, "there is no justification for the withdrawal" of the latter process.

In this same route auditors found "weaknesses in the project," so subsequent amendments were necessary which represented an increase of 124% over the original value. So it went from $18.4 million to almost $23 million.

This report conducted by the General Audit Office was approved in October 2014 and aimed to evaluate the work of the Sub-program "Emergency Works" in 2011, when the agency handled $ 19.6 million, which accounted for 0.19% of the total budget of the DNV.

In general, they observed "lack of procedure manuals or instructional criminalize works that are considered emergency". Furthermore, "a regulation on the steps by the courts to manage a problem once the immediate response" is needed.

Nor is there a structure of the Department of Roads "an area specialized in water studies enabling policies to prevent natural phenomena." This finding is particularly relevant because most of the work of Emergency Works sector by overflow causes insufficient draining watershed, among others.

Other Works

In the repairs that were made to the National Route 40 "Las Lajas", which is on the border between Mendoza and Neuquen similar to "Pescado River" irregularities were found: the works "are not due to emergency conditions" since the idea was to "improve the aging pathway by very low winter temperatures, snowfall and traffic of trucks with chains."

Moreover, "weaknesses in the preparation of the tender" were also observed, which caused future amendments that increased by 25% the original contract.

The work of the National Route 40 "Ciénaga Paicone" located in La Quiaca was finalized in December 2012. In its analysis the AGCBA "no evidence that the National Road Authority has approved works there." Neither "the necessary documentation was found to make the solicitation."

The company that is responsible for carrying out the repairs was VAPEU SRL, according to the agreement signed with the Province. However, in it "neither the form nor the extent of oversight functions the National Roads should have appeared detailed." In fact, "there is no record that it has participated, for example, in the work of the inspection work by the Province."

The work "was postponed three times" because of agreements between the contractor and the Provincial Directorate. "The reasons were the low temperatures, frost and snow in the area and a period of "extraordinary" rain. However, "there was no documentation, as could have been reports from the Weather Service, to justify the repeated postponements."