Mexican Projects

Monterrey Stadium, Guadalupe

Two years ago the Estadio BBVA Bancomer Stadium in Guadalupe, Nuevo León, known also as the Estadio de Fútbol Monterrey, replaced the old Estadio Tecnológico, which by then had become obsolete and too small for the local Monterrey CF football club.

It is the most expensive stadium ever built in Mexico (200 million dollars) and the most modern in the whole of Latin America.

The structure of the steel roof has a shape similar to that of the armoured shell of an armadillo and the stadium was officially inaugurated in 2015. It has seating for more than 51,000 spectators, 5,000 of which are reserved for a local club, and 324 suites inside the stadium. The complex extends over a total surface area of 165,000 m² and has several restaurants, offices and a shopping precinct. Here the challenge thrown down to Mapei Technical Services was to find a series of solutions to the problems encountered on site, which included the appearance of cracks on the surface of the concrete used to form the steps and terraces of the stadium.

The cracks were repaired with PLANIBOND CR-50 epoxy resin and the surfaces were then levelled with MAPECEM QUICK PATCH mortar mixed with PLANICRETE AC latex. Vibrations in the structure could lead to the detachment of material from the surfaces so, when making the mix for the screeds, they used MAPECEM special hydraulic screed binder mixed with sand. The substrates had previously been treated with PLANICRETE AC and PLANIBOND EBA. ULTRAFLEX LFT adhesive and FLEXCOLOR CQ grouting mortar were used to install the ceramic tiles and granite slabs in the lobby and in the entrance areas. The floors in the basement and in the changing rooms were coated with the cementitious MAPEFLOOR system after treating the substrates, which had a problem with damp, with PLANISEAL VS osmotic mortar. Mapei also supplied MAPECRETE HARD SB to protect and strengthen concrete surfaces, PLANISEAL RAPID JOINT 15 to seal the internal joints and MAPELASTIC AQUADEFENSE ready-mixed, elastic liquid membrane to waterproof various areas.

Fashion Drive Shopping Center, San Pedro Garza García, N.L.

The Fashion Drive Shopping Center is one of the largest in Northern Mexico and is located in the San Pedro Garza Garcia district, a suburb of Monterrey, the capital city of the Nuevo León state. It has more than 4 million inhabi-tants, a higher per-capita income than the national average and the highest GDP in Mexico. These are the reasons which led the real-estate company Grupo Immobiliario Monterrey (GIM) to invest more than 3 billion Pesos into the development of this shopping centre.

There are various activities on offer in the Fashion Drive Centre, from shopping to hospitality and enjoyment. The activities are spread over 4 levels and the shopping centre offers its clients more than 80 different shops and boutiques, a Business Hotel, a fitness centre, 17 cinema screens with seating for more than 2,000 viewers, a medical centre and 8 restaurants.

The architectural structure of the shopping centre (with a total surface area of 33,485 m²) is formed by a “skeleton” of steel and concrete.

The challenge for the contractor awarded the tender to install the floor coverings, was to guarantee that the vibrations of this type of structure wouldn’t damage the floors and cause them to crack.

This is why Mapei Technical Services recommended using ULTRAFLEX LFT adhesive to install the stone slabs in the corridors, FLEXCOLOR CQ mortar to fill the grout lines and MAPESIL T to seal the joints. A coat of ULTRACARE PENETRATING PLUS was then applied to protect the stone, which is used to prevent stains and marks forming on natural stone installed on internal and external surfaces. The marble flooring in the showrooms was bonded to a steel substrate and, to guarantee its stability over the years, PLANICRETE W was used.

Canal General Tunnel, Chalco Valley

Once the Canal General Tunnel has been completed, it will considerably reduce the risk of flooding not only in the Chalco Valley area, which has a population of around 4 million inhabitants, but also in the metropolitan area of Mexico City, as well as improve the safety and wellbeing of the entire area, particularly during the rainy season.

The underground tunnel will be 7.9 kilometres long, with a diameter of 6.7 metres during the tunnelling phase and 5 metres once the walls have been completed. The initial investment was around 1,139 million Pesos and the infrastructure is scheduled to be handed over at the end of 2017.

The tunnelling operations were carried out by two full-section EPB (Earth Pressure Balanced) type TBM’s (Tunnel Boring Machines), specifically designed to operate in areas with water under high pressure.

Mapei also took part in various stages of the site work, with technical assistance for the contractors to help choose the most suitable products and the supply of admixtures and waterproofing products specifically formulated for tunnelling work with TBM’s.

The following products were used: MAPEBLOX T tail seal grease to block the inflow of material from the tail end of the machine, MAPEBLOX H bearing sealant, MAPEBLOX PKG packing sealant for TBM shield tunnelling and MAPEBLOX EP grease for TBM tunnelling to help minimise the wear of the boring head, at high temperatures in presence of water.

Due to the presence of water on the walls of the tunnel the job was particularly difficult, that is why MAPEDRILL M1 synthetic liquid polymer for water-based fluids in tunnelling and drilling work, was also used.

Other products used included RESFOAM SS 75 polyurethane resin to help waterproof and stabilise the earth, PLANITOP X mortar to repair and skim the walls of the tunnel, DYNAMON NRG 1014 super-plasticiser and accelerator for concrete, DYNAMON XTEND W500 R acrylic plasticiser for concrete and DYNAMON SW modified acrylic polymer-based admixture.

New Residential Development, Queretaro

The State of Queretaro, two hours far from Mexico City, has a continuous industrial and business growth index. According to a study carried out in 2013 by the research institute of Sistemas de Inteligencia de Mercados y Opinión, Queretaro is one of the top three favourite states to live in Mexico, thanks to the quality of life it offers, and the number of jobs available. According to the local newspaper, El Universal, 40 new families came to live in Queretaro every day in 2015, and the Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals calculated that the average had grown to 58 in 2016 to 70 families in 2017.

These figures were confirmed by an increase of 10% in sales on the local housing market over the course of the last year, with 9 out of 10 properties being bought by people from outside the region. Around half of those who move out of Mexico City or the nearby states settle here, which means the Queretaro area is constantly expanding.

Grupo Sadasi, a construction company with more than 40 years of experience specialized in the planning of large residential developments, built 1,950 houses in the State of Querétaro in 2016, divided into four different areas (Paseos del Bosque, Tres Cantos, Los Encinos and Los Héroes).

This imposing project (around 1,650,000 m² of homes built) also included the use of various products supplied by Mapei. The surface of the internal walls was finished with MORTEX EMPLASTE mortar and the internal and external walls of all the houses were primed with SELLANATURE. As far as the wall finishes were concerned, the internal ones were treated with FIBERTEX HIDROFUGO while the external ones were coated with MORTEX HIDROFUGO -  white colour was chosen for both products. The façades of the houses were partially dressed with slabs of stone bonded with PEGAZIM PORCELANICO adhesive.