Complete civil packages for utility solar near Lott, 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 Lott in Falls County, Texas. One contract covers clearing through final stabilization, with Backwell field leadership on site.
Blackland farming town on US 77 in the deep clay uplands, useful for staging on the prairie side of the county away from the Brazos floodplain.
Falls County straddles the boundary between the Blackland Prairie and the Brazos River bottom, and takes its name from the falls on the Brazos at Marlin. West and north of the river the uplands carry deep calcareous clays including Houston Black, Heiden and Branyon, with strong shrink swell and gilgai. Along the Brazos itself is a wide alluvial valley with loamy and silty Ships, Weswood, Norwood and Yahola soils on natural levees and terraces, and clayey backswamp ground behind them. Local drainage runs to the Brazos through Big Creek, Deer Creek and Cow Bayou, and much of the bottom is mapped floodplain.
Two very different grading conditions in the same county. On the prairie uplands expect high plasticity clay, moisture sensitive earthwork and a short working window after rain, with lime or cement treatment for pads and roads. In the Brazos bottom the alluvium is friable and easy to move, but the water table is shallow, the ground is subject to flooding, and pile or pier design has to account for deep soft alluvial layers. Access roads across the bottom need raised subgrade and culverts sized for backwater, not just local runoff. Clearing along the river is heavy hardwood and pecan bottomland with large stumps and possible waters of the US considerations, while the uplands are open farmland. Erosion control on the sandy loam terraces requires prompt seeding because the material carries easily.
Full detail on the Falls County market is on the Falls 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.
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