Sempra Infrastructure said last month that its 72-mile Louisiana Pipeline Port Arthur connector project was completed and put into service. Originating in southwest Louisiana, it is scheduled to supply natural gas to the first phase of the Port Arthur LNG export terminal east of Houston when construction of the facility’s two trains is completed in 2027 and 2028. HDR served as a consultant for the detailed design of the trenchless work of the 42-inch-diameter line and its construction and geotechnical engineering.
The owner estimated the cost of the pipeline project at about $1 billion,
The elements include a compressor station in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, and 18 trenchless crossings totaling more than 57,000 feet, “making it a major trenchless project,” said Paul Bearden Jr., HDR Trenchless Services Program Leader. The initial southern half of the alignment includes about 34 miles in wetlands and water. Of 13 water crossings using horizontal directional drilling, the longest spanned 6,874 feet, he said.
With a restricted job site, the HDR design team strategically configured the mounting and piping to fit the limited footprint available, according to Bearden. “Handling Larger Diameter Pipe with Thick Wall Pipe [0.864-in.] it required proper planning and additional equipment in some cases, which made some of the crossings more difficult than others,” he noted.
The route modifications also minimized some environmental effects, including a net decrease of 10.6 acres of construction impacts and 9.5 acres of operational wetland impacts, according to Bearden/
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With a maximum allowable operating pressure of 1,440 psi, the pipeline is designed to deliver 2 billion cubic feet per day of feed gas to meet LNG process demand for the Port Arthur terminal’s liquefaction trains. Other pipeline project contractors included Onward Resources, Troy Construction, MAXX HDD, Michels, HardRock Infrastructure Services and North Country Directional Drilling.
The new line is also intended to supply additional natural gas storage capacity being built in Louisiana by interconnecting with Sempra’s existing Gillis Hub pipeline in the Southwest Louisiana Energy Corridor.
When completed, Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 will be able to process and ship up to 13 million metric tons of LNG per year, Sempra Infrastructure says. Bechtel is the EPC contractor for this facility, with a project cost estimated at $13 billion. The project team is also running a large wetlands restoration project this summer. Construction of the terminal was temporarily suspended in 2025 when a scaffolding collapse at the site killed three Bechtel workers and injured two others. According to recent news, court documents indicate a possible settlement reached in a subsequent lawsuit. Details of the settlement have not been released.
