Complete civil packages for utility solar near Fort White, FL: 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 Fort White in Columbia County, Florida. One contract covers clearing through final stabilization, with Backwell field leadership on site.
On US 27 and SR 47 in the karst belt near the Ichetucknee, close to utility solar development in this part of the county. Ground here is the most sinkhole prone in the area, so pad borings are not optional.
Publicly reported utility-scale solar in and around Columbia 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.
Columbia County straddles the Cody Scarp, the break between the Northern Highlands and the Ocala karst plain. North and east of the scarp the surface is thick sandy uplands with Blanton, Alpin, Penney, Lakeland, Ortega and Foxworth sands over Hawthorn clays, and the lower flats carry Pelham, Plummer, Mascotte and Leon soils. South and west of the scarp the Hawthorn confining unit thins or disappears and Ocala Limestone comes close to the surface, so the landscape is closed depressions, sinks, swallets and springs rather than surface streams. The Santa Fe River goes underground at O'Leno, the Ichetucknee springs discharge near Fort White, and Falling Creek and Alligator Lake drain to sinkholes. Aquifer vulnerability is high across the karst half of the county.
Grubbing in the sandhill and planted pine ground is straightforward but generates a lot of stump and slash volume. The real driver is karst: shallow and pinnacled limestone means uneven rock depth across a single pad, possible rippable to non rippable transitions, and cover collapse risk where sand overlies a raveling throat. Borings and, on sensitive sites, ground penetrating radar are worth the money before you set grades. Trenching can hit rock at shallow depth in the western half and pure sand in the east, so unit pricing needs a rock line. Stormwater design is constrained: in karst basins you often cannot use conventional retention because of direct aquifer connection, and FDEP and the Suwannee River Water Management District treat discharge to sinks and swallets carefully. On the deep sands, infiltration is fast and erosion control focuses on wind, haul road dust and keeping fines out of the aquifer.
Full detail on the Columbia County market is on the Columbia 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. Contractor licensing in Florida runs through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the Construction Industry Licensing Board. Pure earthwork on a solar site, meaning clearing, grubbing, grading, and access roads, is generally not a separately certified state trade by itself, but once the scope includes underground storm drainage, water, or sewer, Florida requires a Certified Underground Utility and Excavation Contractor license, a Division I state certification. Vertical or structural work such as O and M buildings or structural foundations pulls in a Certified General or Building Contractor license. A state Certified license is valid statewide, while a Registered license is limited to the local jurisdiction that issued it, and out of state firms must qualify their business entity with DBPR and typically also pull a local business tax receipt in the county of work. Confirm the exact classification with DBPR for each specific scope before bidding.
Construction stormwater. NPDES Stormwater Construction Generic Permit, commonly called the CGP, issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection under Rule 62-621.300(4), Florida Administrative Code. Coverage is required for construction that disturbs one acre or more, or less than one acre if part of a larger common plan of development, and that discharges to surface waters of the state or to an MS4. A Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan must be prepared before the Notice of Intent is filed, and a complete NOI plus fee must be submitted at least two calendar days before construction begins. Fees are $250 for small construction, one to five acres, and $400 for large construction, five acres or more. Source: https://floridadep.gov/water/stormwater/content/construction-activity 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 wages apply at 1 MW AC and larger through the Inflation Reduction Act wage and apprenticeship rules that unlock the full tax credit rate, so certified payroll and registered apprentice ratios are the practical requirement on effectively every utility scale solar job in Florida. There is no state level prevailing wage requirement on top of that. Florida repealed its state prevailing wage law in 1979, and Section 255.0992, Florida Statutes, further prohibits counties, cities, and other local governments from imposing their own wage rate requirements on public works construction contracts. In practice, plan for Davis-Bacon driven certified payroll on the solar work and nothing additional from the state or a county. 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 Florida 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.
Plans, scope, and schedule reviewed and answered promptly.
Reply in hours, not days.