Gas pipeline reinforcements stymie works on Mexico's La Libertad dam

Nuevo León state in northern Mexico will be unable to complete the 1.1bn-peso (US$64mn) La Libertad dam this year unless reinforcements are completed on a 5.6km stretch of the Los Ramones gas pipeline that crosses the reservoir. 

The works to bolster the gas line are essential to avoid cracking due to water pressure, Juan Ignacio Barragán Villarreal, head of state capital Monterrey's water and sewage utility AyD, said at a press conference. 

“This gas pipeline wasn't foreseen in the original plan for the dam, the project that we inherited. It was thought that the current gas pipeline could be left as it is, but that can't happen it would burst with the water pressure,” he said. 

This pipeline delivers gas to the Bajío region of central Mexico through three different sections, with the Los Ramones II section requiring reinforcement, the utility stated in a social media post. 

"Work has begun on the relocation and reinforcement of a 5.6km section of the Los Ramones II gas pipeline, which was already in the area where the La Libertad Dam is currently being built," it said.

According to BNamericas' records, that section is operated by Gasoducto TAG Norte and owned by IEnova, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and state-owned firm Pemex. 

“The company that is carrying out the works tells us that they will be finished by December. It won't be an inconvenience for the dam,” Barragán said. 

Overall physical progress on the dam, which was started under the administration of state governor Jaime Rodríguez Calderón (2015-21) is now 54.6%, according to the executive.

The project was previously expected to be completed by year-end and start storing water in October. It will be the fourth dam to serve Nuevo León state. The aim is to deliver 1.6m3/s of water to the metropolitan area of Monterrey. The dam wall will be 1.9km long and 52m tall.  

It is also included in the 93.5bn-peso portfolio of 15 water priority projects that national water authority Conagua is looking to complete before President Andrés Manuel López Obrador leaves office in October 2024.