Complete civil packages for utility solar near Winslow, AZ: clearing, mass grading, access roads, collection trenching, SWPPP, fencing, and substation civil.
Backwell contracts complete civil site work packages for utility solar EPCs building near Winslow in Navajo County, Arizona. One contract covers clearing through final stabilization, with Backwell field leadership on site.
I-40 and BNSF Transcon town with substantial rail yard capacity, which makes it the practical rail receiving point for anything oversized coming into northeastern Arizona. Highway access is direct and flat, and cinder pits north of town are a common base material source.
Publicly reported utility-scale solar in and around Navajo County:
Project details come from public filings and reporting and are listed to show where the work is. Backwell is not affiliated with these projects or their developers.
Long north to south county spanning three physiographic worlds. In the north it is Colorado Plateau: Little Colorado River valley, Painted Desert and Petrified Forest badlands cut into the Chinle Formation, which is bentonitic smectite clay that swells and shrinks violently and slumps when wet, with Moenkopi and Bidahochi beds and windblown sand sheets. Soils there include Tours and Jocity silt loams and loams on the Little Colorado floodplain, Sheppard and similar loamy fine sands on the eolian sheets, Navajo clays derived from shale, and shallow Epikom soils over basalt on the mesas. Moving south past Snowflake and Show Low the ground climbs the Mogollon Rim, with Coconino and Kaibab sandstone and limestone, basalt malpais, ponderosa forest and shallow, rocky, red clay residual soils. Drainage is the Little Colorado and its tributaries, ephemeral but capable of severe flash flow, plus Silver Creek and Show Low Creek in the south, and post fire runoff off the Rim is a genuine hazard.
On the plateau, the Chinle derived clays are the controlling factor: high plasticity, high shrink swell, very low strength when wet, and prone to piping and gully headcutting. Cut and fill in that material needs moisture conditioned, lime treated or select imported fill, and you should not run haul traffic on it after rain. Sand sheet areas are the reverse problem, blowing sand that will not hold a slope or a compacted road surface without imported base. Southern county work on the Rim means real clearing and grubbing volume in ponderosa, shallow soil over sandstone and basalt, and rock excavation for trenching and access cuts, so rippers and hammers instead of scrapers. Erosion control is aggressive here compared with the low desert: real precipitation, real snowmelt, steep badland slopes, and highly erodible shale, so channel armoring, rock check dams, tracked and mulched slopes and staged stabilization are warranted, and winter shutdown windows are a scheduling reality at Show Low elevations.
Full detail on the Navajo County market is on the Navajo County solar civil page.
We price the package as one scope under one contract, so the EPC has a single point of responsibility for the civil critical path instead of managing separate clearing, earthwork, and utility subcontracts.
Backwell superintendents, project managers, and lead operators run every site. We mobilize company equipment for the core scope and scale each project with leased production fleets, qualified regional subcontractors, and agency-placed field staff, all under Backwell supervision and a single contract.
Contractor licensing. Yes. Arizona requires a contractor license issued by the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC). For commercial civil sitework the relevant classification is the commercial A General Engineering license, which covers fixed works, streets and roads, power and utility plants and related infrastructure, and which also carries the scopes of the A-4 through A-19 subclassifications including A-5, excavating, grading and oil surfacing. A contractor may alternatively hold a specific A subclassification such as A-5 rather than the full A. Licensure requires documented trade experience, passing the Business Management exam and the applicable trade exam, and a license bond.
Construction stormwater. AZPDES Construction General Permit (CGP) for Stormwater, issued by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). Coverage is required for construction disturbing one acre or more, or less than one acre if part of a larger common plan of development or sale, and it also covers temporary concrete, asphalt and material plants set up exclusively for the permitted project. The operator files a Notice of Intent with ADEQ certifying that a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan has been developed and will be followed. Backwell carries the SWPPP scope, installs and maintains the controls, keeps the inspection log, and closes the permit out with final stabilization.
Prevailing wage. Federal Davis-Bacon prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements apply through the Inflation Reduction Act to projects of 1 MW and larger that claim the full investment or production tax credit, so certified payroll is standard on utility-scale solar in Arizona. On top of that, Arizona has no state prevailing wage law for state or locally funded public works, and Arizona statute preempts local governments from adopting their own prevailing wage ordinances. In practice the wage determination governing an Arizona solar site comes from the federal IRA requirement or from the owner or EPC contract, not from a state schedule. Davis-Bacon also applies directly on federally funded or federally assisted work. For projects claiming the full ITC or PTC, Backwell produces Davis-Bacon certified payroll, pays the applicable wage determination, and supports apprenticeship labor-hour compliance.
All Arizona solar civil work or the national utility solar civil page.
Send plans, a scope of work, and the schedule through the form below or call (315) 400-2654. We review the civil package, walk the site if it is at that stage, and return a scoped proposal with a schedule of values, stated fill allowances, and unit rates for overages. A one-page capability statement is available for prequalification files.
Plans, scope, and schedule reviewed and answered promptly.
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