Ivanpah solar facility begins construction of fences, roads

IVANPAH • Construction on fencing, roads, and an on-site mirror fabrication center is continuing at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System project four months after construction began.

The 370-megawatt BrightSource Energy project near the California-Nevada border is expected to power about 140,000 homes once it is completed. Bechtel Corporation is overseeing the project’s construction and signed a project labor agreement with two different labor organizations in order to provide workers for the site. Officials say the project — at its peak — will create about 1,000 construction jobs within the High Desert and San Bernardino County.

Most of the people working right now are doing civil work, such as fencing, building roads for the solar plant, and surveying the land, said Keely Wachs, senior director for corporate communications for BrightSource. There are also operators of large construction vehicles working on the site and workers building an on-site mirror fabrication center.

A total of 300 people are currently working on the site, including 100 local union members, said Wachs.

One local union out of San Bernardino currently has about 40 laborers working on tortoise fencing and relocating protected plant species at Ivanpah, said Richard Sierra, business manager for Laborer’s International Union of North America, Local 783. Sierra said he did not know exactly where each worker came from, but said his union chapter drew from out-of-work lists of union members, starting with Barstow — because it is the closest location to Ivanpah — and then moving to lists from Victorville and San Bernardino.

Wachs said most of the employees for the project are currently commuting, but he hopes to have a bus system in place for the workers to make the long drive to Ivanpah.

Sierra said that other local unions would also soon be involved in the construction process as the project continues, including electricians, iron workers, cement finishers, boilermakers and carpenters.

“I’m really excited,” said Sierra. “There’s going to be a lot of work for a lot of people.”