Complete civil packages for utility solar near Barstow, TX: 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 Barstow in Ward County, Texas. One contract covers clearing through final stabilization, with Backwell field leadership on site.
Northwest corner town in the irrigated Pecos River valley near US 80 and the Reeves County line, about 20 miles from Pecos and the Interstate 20 corridor.
Ward County is Permian Basin desert with a distinctive eolian sand sheet: the Monahans Sandhills run through the county as active and stabilized dunes of deep loose quartz sand, mapped as Kermit and Penwell sands, with shin oak stabilizing much of the surface. Away from the dunes the ground flattens into caliche plains with Wickett and Pyote soils that have cemented petrocalcic caliche pans within a few feet of the surface. The Pecos River crosses the west and north of the county at Barstow and Grandfalls with irrigated valley alluvium and saline soils along it, and Permian evaporite and salt bearing formations lie beneath, which is why karst subsidence is a known regional concern.
Dune sand and caliche pan sit side by side, so equipment selection and production rates change within a single site. Loose deep sand gives almost no bearing for rubber tired traffic, so access roads across dune areas need imported caliche surfacing, geotextile separation and regular maintenance, and low ground pressure equipment for early work. Trenching in dune sand is fast but the walls are cohesionless and collapse without shoring or laying back, and backfill needs compaction control because loose sand will settle later. Where the caliche pan comes up, expect rippers, hammers and slower trenching, with the payoff of good local base material. Clearing is light shin oak and mesquite, but stripping stabilizing vegetation off dunes releases blowing sand, so keep disturbance staged, use tackifier or track packing, and treat wind erosion as the primary erosion control problem rather than water. Given the evaporite geology and oilfield history, review subsidence and abandoned well records before laying out foundations.
Full detail on the Ward County market is on the Ward 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. Texas does not issue a statewide general contractor or general engineering contractor license, so commercial civil sitework requires no state contractor license. Licensing in Texas is trade specific: electrical work is licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, plumbing by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, and sealed design work requires a Texas Professional Engineer registered with the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Cities and counties can require their own contractor registration, bonds and permits, so registration is handled jurisdiction by jurisdiction. Out of state contractors register with the Texas Secretary of State to transact business and should confirm Texas Comptroller franchise tax standing.
Construction stormwater. Construction stormwater in Texas is permitted under the TPDES Construction General Permit, number TXR150000, issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Utility-scale solar sites disturbing five acres or more are large construction activity and require a Notice of Intent, a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, a posted site notice and a Notice of Termination at completion. Sites between one and five acres are small construction activity with a site notice and SWPPP. TCEQ is the delegated permitting authority in Texas, not EPA Region 6. 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 solar facilities of 1 MW AC and larger that claim the full investment or production tax credit, which covers essentially every project on this list. That means Davis-Bacon rates for the county, weekly certified payroll, and qualified apprentice labor hour percentages flowed down to subcontractors. Texas has no state prevailing wage law that reaches privately owned solar projects. Texas Government Code Chapter 2258 requires prevailing wage only on public works contracts let by the state or a political subdivision, with rates set by the awarding public body, so it does not apply to private utility-scale solar. In practice the IRA requirements are the operative wage and recordkeeping driver on Texas solar. 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 Texas 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.