Complete civil packages for utility solar in Sussex County, Virginia: 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 Sussex County, Virginia. We contract the complete civil package under one agreement, with Backwell superintendents and lead operators on site.
Sussex County has been the site of a proposed 600 MW solar development across roughly 4,800 acres, one of the largest single proposals in the Commonwealth outside of Charlotte County. Local reporting has described active dispute over the project, which is typical of the entitlement stage in Southside and coastal plain counties. If it advances, the civil scope would be among the largest in the state for 2026 to 2028. We are not naming the developer here because we could not verify it from a source we read.
Sussex County is inner Coastal Plain south of the Fall Line, a low flat to gently rolling terrace landscape dissected by the Nottoway River and the headwaters of the Blackwater, with large interstream flats occupied by pine flatwoods and hardwood swamps including Assamoosick Swamp. Soils are the Emporia, Slagle, Kenansville, Rumford, Uchee, Nansemond, and Bibb associations typical of this part of Virginia, ranging from droughty loamy sands on the sandy ridges to poorly drained wet soils in the flats. Emporia and Slagle in particular have platy structure in the subsoil that restricts downward water movement and produces a temporary seasonal high water table in the upper subsoil, so ground that looks flat and dry perches water after rain. Clayey Caroline and Duplin type soils occur on some of the older terrace surfaces, and Bibb alluvium fills the stream bottoms.
There is no rock, so excavation and pile driving are easy, and the entire risk profile shifts to water, wetlands, and trafficability. The perched water table in the Emporia and Slagle subsoil means access roads and laydown areas need to be built above grade on stone or on a geotextile and sand section rather than cut into the flats, and winter work will destroy subgrade if it is not stabilized. Nontidal wetland delineation drives layout more than topography does: crossings need Norfolk District Corps authorization and the flats are extensive. Collection trenching in the loamy sands runs fast but the walls do not stand below the water table, so shoring and pumping are standard. Local sand and borrow are plentiful; crushed stone has to be trucked in.
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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