Special Issue Nr. 3 Regional Information - Mexico

February 2015

The Mexican Engineering Insurance Market showed 54.5% growth in written premium in 2012 and 3.7% in 2013; those percentages amounted to USD 596 and USD 617 million respectively. The market slowed down because of the under-performance of the CAR line of business. However, CAR has the largest premium share at USD 282 million, followed by EE with USD 113 million.

The map below shows the locations of 5 of the largest private and public Engineering projects that produced growth in this period.

Figure 1. Largest projects completed by 2014

IMIA NEWS

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Completed Largest Projects in Mexico

1. Mazatlan – Durango Highway

The project included the Baluarte Bridge, the highest cable stayed bridge in the world.

Figure 2.Panoramic view of the Baluarte Bridge

Remarkable points include:

• It is the most important public project recently in Mexico.

• It is the second largest and most costly highway infrastructure project.

• The highway is 230 km long, has 63 tunnels, 115 bridges including the Baluarte Bridge.

• The Sinaloense tunnel is the second largest in the country with a length of 2,794 meters.

• The new road saves about 3 hours and 30 minutes travelling time.

The Baluarte Bridge Bicentennial is the highest cable stayed bridge in the world, located in northwestern Mexico to connect Durango and Mazatlán by crossing a chain of very steep mountain ranges.

The bridge is 1,124 m long, has four lanes, and is 20 m wide; with a cable stayed span of 520 m, supported by 12 columns and is 402.57 m high over the Baluarte River. The Eiffel Tower or the Empire State building fit beneath it.

The construction took almost four years, having started in February 21st, 2008, and it was put into operation on January 5, 2012.

The total investment in the Baluarte Bridge was USD 185 million.

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NEW PROJECTS IN MEXICO The federal government in power since December 2012, has promoted a number of following projects within the National Infrastructure Plan 2014 – 2018. The expected investment is about USD 433.5 billion, which will produce growth in engineering premium in the next four years. The projects involve mainly transportation, water supply & treatment, oil & gas transportation and power generation, as shown below.

Transportation projects

1. The New Airport for Mexico City

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This is beyond doubt the largest project. Its first stage consists of the construction of a new airport with three runways that can be used simultaneously to transport about 50 million people yearly. The second stage will consist of the construction of another three runways to transport yearly about 120 million passengers.

The planned initial investment is USD 9.2 billion. It is estimated that it will employ (directly and indirectly) 160,000 people.

This Airport will operate ecologically using the light of the sun, collecting and using rainwater, and being ventilated through non energy consuming systems.

2. Mexico City - Toluca Railroad.

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The project works started in September 2014 and will finish in 2017. The investment is estimated in USD 2.9 billion. It will have 15 trains with 10 carriages each and the ability to carry 1,400 people at 160 Km/hour.

The medium speed Train from Mexico City to Toluca City project comprises 57.7 km of track including 6 stations, workshops and yards. It is divided into three stretches as follows:

• The first stretch is mainly an overhead viaduct from Zinacantepec terminal (Toluca City), through three other stations to the portal bi-tunnel entry. Total length 38 km.

• The second stretch consists of a 4.6 km long 8.5 m diameter double tube tunnel.

• The third stretch was designed to work as a three level viaduct with a length of 15 km.

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Water supply and treatment projects.

Figure 4.Main water supply and treatment projects

1. Monterrey VI Aqueduct.

This aqueduct is being built to secure the water supply for the future growth of the Monterrey city area (Mexico´s 3rd largest city), minimizing the risk of water shortages due to the vulnerability of the current sources. This aqueduct will deliver 5 m3/sec from the Tampaon river in the state of San Luis Potosi and will cross the states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas to reach the Cerro Prieto dam located in Linares city.

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The length is 372 km, with a diameter of 2.13 m. The project started in 2014 and will finish in 2017. The investment is estimated at 1.4 billion USD with 80% private and 20% federal funds.

2. Tunel Emisor Oriente/TEO

Over the years, Mexico City has been affected by a series of floods, some of them of great magnitude.

To limit the flooding, the authority has decided to build TEO, a 62 km long and 8.7 m diameter underground tunnel excavated with 6 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) The project includes 23 shafts from 12 to 16 m in diameter along its length. It is one of Mexico´s greatest engineering works of the 21st century, not just because it doubles the drainage capacity of the Mexico City valley, but conveys wastewater to the nation's largest treatment plant, located in Hidalgo (Atotonilco Water Treatment Plant). Total investment is over 1.0 billion USD.

Power generation projects

THE THIRD BOSPHORUS BRIDGE

Figure 5.

Main

sustainable

power

generation

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1. Geothermal Plants Azufres y Cerritos Colorados

These geothermal plants will increase the use of geothermal energy by to 53MW and 27 MW

respectively. The total investment will be 149 million USD.

2. Solar Power Plants

14 plants of 30 MW each will be built in the north of Mexico. The estimated total investment for

the 420 MW capacity will be about 1.0 billion USD.

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Natural Gas Transportation Projects

For 2014-2018 the expansion of natural gas pipeline networks belonging to state-owned companies CFE (Public Utility) and Pemex is planned, through 18 new projects with an estimated total investment of about 13 billion USD.

CFE has identified 6 gas pipeline projects to supply natural gas to its power plants across the country, with an estimated investment of 5.4 billion USD. These projects include Ojinaga - El Encino 254 km gas pipeline, El Encino - La Laguna 423 km gas pipeline and Waha - Samalayuca 300 km gas pipeline, among other projects. With the gradual entry into commercial operation of these gas pipelines, CFE will add more than 2,700 km of new gas pipelines. In this context, CFE will evolve from being a utility company to an energy company, providing both electricity and natural gas services.

Pemex will hold tenders to build and operate 13 new pipelines to supply natural gas to several regions, with an estimated investment of 7.8 billion USD. These projects include Los Ramones - Cempoala 855 km gas pipeline, Jáltipan - Salina Cruz 247 km gas pipeline, Lázaro Cárdenas - Acapulco 300 km gas pipeline and Salina Cruz - Tapachula 440 km gas pipeline, among others.

Gas pipeline projects are being awarded by CFE and Pemex under a PPP (Public Private Partnership) scheme with a concession period, typically of 25 years.

Marco de la Rosa Gerente Daños AMIS

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