Complete civil packages for utility solar near Schurz, NV: 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 Schurz in Mineral County, Nevada. One contract covers clearing through final stabilization, with Backwell field leadership on site.
Schurz is where US 95 and Alt US 95 split, so it controls whether a load runs north toward Fernley and I 80 or west toward Yerington and Carson City. It is the Walker River Paiute Tribe headquarters, which means tribal jurisdiction, TERO hiring, and cultural review apply to anything on or crossing reservation land. The Walker River bottom here is the only substantial riparian corridor in the area and drives permitting for crossings.
Publicly reported utility-scale solar in and around Mineral 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.
Mineral County is classic Basin and Range with unusually steep relief: the Wassuk Range rises to Mount Grant above 11,000 feet on a major fault front directly over Walker Lake, and the Excelsior, Gabbs Valley, and Garfield ranges frame Soda Spring Valley and Rhodes Salt Marsh. The Singatse series, typed in Mineral County on the Walker River Indian Reservation, is a somewhat excessively drained very gravelly sandy loam on hills and mountains at 8 to 75 percent slopes with only 10 to 25 centimeters to an andesite lithic contact, which is representative of the volcanic uplands here. Valley ground is coarse, boulder rich fan alluvium off the Wassuk front, grading down to saline flats and playa at Rhodes Salt Marsh and the Walker Lake shoreline. Walker Lake is terminal and has been dropping for decades, so its old lake terraces and salt crusted flats are exposed, and all upland drainage is ephemeral and flashy through steep debris flow channels.
On the fan surfaces expect blast or heavy rip conditions where the Singatse type mantle is only four to ten inches thick over andesite, so pile driving and trench sections need refusal contingencies, predrilling, or rock allowances priced up front. Fan alluvium off the Wassuk front is boulder loaded, which is good bearing but rough on trenchers and on access road grading, and the debris flow channels crossing it need real culvert and armored low water crossing design rather than a graded dip. On the saline flats and old lake terraces near Walker Lake and Rhodes Salt Marsh, salt and sodium drive corrosion protection for grounding, pile, and buried conduit. Clearing is thin salt desert shrub, so the erosion control battle is concentrated flash runoff dropping off steep fans, not sheet flow.
Full detail on the Mineral County market is on the Mineral 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. Nevada requires a state contractor license issued by the Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB) for commercial construction, and the Board sets a monetary limit on each license based on the applicant's financial statement. Commercial civil sitework falls under Classification A, General Engineering, which is broken into subclassifications: the ones that matter for solar civil are A-7 Excavating and Grading, A-12 Excavating, Grading, Trenching and Surfacing, A-16 Paving, A-15 Sewers, Drains and Pipes, and A-17 Lines to Transmit Electricity for gen tie and collection work. Licensure requires a written examination, a background investigation, and a financial responsibility review, and the license must carry a monetary limit high enough for the contract value being bid. Source: https://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/about-us/license-classifications/
Construction stormwater. Nevada's construction stormwater permit is the Stormwater Construction General Permit, permit number NVR100000, issued by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP), Bureau of Water Pollution Control, Stormwater Branch. Coverage is required for any project disturbing one acre or more, for smaller projects that are part of a larger common plan of development, and for sub acre projects the Stormwater Branch determines will impact receiving waters within a quarter mile. The operator prepares a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) first, then submits a Notice of Intent (NOI) to obtain coverage before ground disturbance begins. The 2015 version of NVR100000 has been administratively continued while a renewal is drafted. Source: https://ndep.nv.gov/water/water-pollution-control/permitting/stormwater-discharge-permits/construction-sites-greater-than-1-acre 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 registered apprenticeship rules apply through the Inflation Reduction Act to projects of 1 MW alternating current and above that claim the increased investment or production tax credit, and that covers essentially every utility-scale solar job in Nevada. On top of that, Nevada has its own wage floor for renewable energy projects that take the state partial tax abatement under NRS 701A.300 to 701A.390: NRS 701A.365 requires that the average hourly wage paid to employees working on construction of the facility, excluding management and administrative staff, be at least 175 percent of the average statewide hourly wage as set by the Employment Security Division of DETR each July 1, and that workers be offered a health insurance plan with a dependent coverage option. DETR publishes the applicable green energy wage figure annually. Separately, NRS Chapter 338 prevailing wage applies to public works contracts awarded by state and local public bodies, which is a different track from privately owned solar generation. Sources: https://law.justia.com/codes/nevada/chapter-701a/ and https://www.energy.nv.gov/siteassets/content/programs/Renewable_Energy_Tax_Abatements_Requirements__2.pdf and https://www.nevadaworkforce.com/_docs/Green-Wage/2024_Green_Energy_Tax_Abatement.pdf 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 Nevada 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.
Reply in hours, not days.