Complete civil packages for utility solar near Capron, VA: 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 Capron in Southampton County, Virginia. One contract covers clearing through final stabilization, with Backwell field leadership on site.
Western Southampton near the US 58 corridor and existing utility scale solar development in this part of the county, which means collector and transmission infrastructure and an established local familiarity with construction traffic. Flat sandy ground with good pile driving conditions.
Publicly reported utility-scale solar in and around Southampton 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.
Southampton County is Coastal Plain flatwoods where the Nottoway and Blackwater Rivers run southeast to join and form the Chowan at the North Carolina line, with the Meherrin River along the west boundary. Relief is minimal, and the county is dominated by broad interstream flats separated by shallow blackwater stream corridors and cypress and gum swamp. The mapped soils include Emporia, Slagle, Nansemond, Kenansville, Rumford, Uchee, and Bibb, with clayey Craven and poorly drained Rains soils in the wetter positions, so the county runs from droughty sand ridges to soils with a water table at or near the surface in winter within a single parcel. Emporia and Slagle have moderately slow to slow permeability from platy subsoil structure, which perches water above the true water table, and drainage from the whole county goes south into the Chowan and Albemarle Sound system rather than into the Chesapeake.
Grading quantities are small because the ground is already flat; the money goes into drainage, roads, and wetland avoidance. Existing agricultural ditch networks are the de facto drainage system, so any grading plan has to keep them functioning or replace them, and outlet protection matters because these are low gradient blackwater channels that will not flush sediment. Clearing on the wet flats needs low ground pressure equipment or frozen and dry season scheduling, and stump removal in swamp margins produces holes that fill with water immediately. Collection trenching is fast in sand but requires shoring and continuous dewatering below the water table, and cable in wet trench needs proper bedding. Erosion control should assume long duration saturated conditions rather than a few storm events.
Full detail on the Southampton County market is on the Southampton 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. Virginia requires a contractor license issued by the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR), Board for Contractors. The relevant tier for utility scale solar civil work is the Class A contractor license, which carries no monetary limit on individual project size or annual revenue. The relevant classification for site work, earthwork, and road work is Highway / Heavy (H/H); the qualified individual sits for a trade exam tied to VDOT specifications. Class A applicants must show net worth of $45,000 or post a $50,000 surety bond, and each classification or specialty held requires its own qualified individual with documented experience. Source read: https://virginiacontractorauthority.com/virginia-contractor-license-types and https://www.kmlawyers.com/virginia-dpor-licensing-requirements-for-construction-contractors/
Construction stormwater. The General Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) Permit for Discharges of Stormwater from Construction Activities, commonly called the Construction General Permit or CGP, codified at 9VAC25-880. It is issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) under the State Water Control Board, and is administered locally through Virginia Stormwater Management Program (VSMP) authorities. The current reissuance runs July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2029 and applies to land disturbing activities of one acre or more. Sources read: https://www.deq.virginia.gov/water/stormwater/stormwater-construction and https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title9/agency25/chapter880/section70/ 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 qualifying facilities of 1 MW or greater that claim the full investment or production tax credit, so certified payroll is the practical default on Virginia utility scale solar regardless of state law. On top of that, Virginia has its own prevailing wage statute at Code of Virginia section 2.2-4321.3, sometimes called the Little Davis-Bacon Act, administered by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI). The state statute reaches public works contracts of $250,000 or more that are paid in whole or in part with state funds, or contracts with a locality that has adopted a prevailing wage ordinance. Privately owned utility scale solar is generally not a public works contract, so the state statute usually does not attach and the federal IRA requirement is the governing one. Sources read: https://doli.virginia.gov/programs/labor-law/prevailing-wage-law/ and https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title2.2/chapter43/section2.2-4321.3/ 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 Virginia 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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