Complete civil packages for utility solar in Hill County, Texas: clearing, mass grading, access roads, collection trenching, SWPPP, fencing, and substation civil.
Backwell is a civil site work general contractor serving utility solar EPCs building in Hill County, Texas. We contract the complete civil package under one agreement, with Backwell superintendents and lead operators on site.
Hill County sits between the DFW load center and the Waco corridor with existing high voltage transmission running through it, which places it inside the same Central Texas solar development band as Navarro, Bell, Milam and Falls. Land use is row crop and pasture on expansive clay soils, the same conditions that drive undercut, moisture conditioning and stabilized haul roads on neighboring county projects. We have not verified a named Hill County solar project from a primary source, so none is claimed here. Treat this as a watch county for 2027 and 2028 rather than a confirmed 2026 build.
Hill County is Blackland Prairie in its classic form, over Austin Chalk, Eagle Ford Shale and Taylor Marl, with the chalk producing a low escarpment through the western part of the county. Soils are dominated by Houston Black and Heiden clays, Ferris clay on eroded slopes, Branyon clay on the flats, Austin silty clay over the chalk, and shallow gravelly Eddy soils where the chalk comes to the surface. The Brazos River forms the west boundary at Lake Whitney, with the Nolan River, Aquilla Creek and Hackberry Creek draining the interior, and Aquilla Lake in the center of the county.
Expect deep fat clay over most of the county, with all the usual consequences: moisture conditioning, chemical stabilization for pads and access roads, no travel after a rain event, and heavy shrink swell movement on shallow foundations and buried pipe. The Eddy and Austin areas over the chalk are the opposite problem, thin soil over rippable to hard chalk that will slow trenching and pier drilling and yield poor topsoil for respread. Chalk and limestone country to the west and north makes base rock hauls short compared with counties further east. Erosion control is straightforward on slope but the clay fines are slow to drop out, so size sediment basins for detention time and expect to maintain perimeter controls after every event.
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.
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