Complete civil packages for utility solar near Ruskin, 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 Ruskin in Hillsborough County, Florida. One contract covers clearing through final stabilization, with Backwell field leadership on site.
US 41 and I-75 with Big Bend Road running to the TECO Big Bend plant and the port terminals. Flat coastal ground with a high table, so haul roads here need stabilization early.
Publicly reported utility-scale solar in and around Hillsborough 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.
Hillsborough spans three different jobs. West of the Tampa Bypass Canal it is coastal lowland and tidal flat with Myakka, EauGallie, Wabasso and Pompano fine sands and mangrove and marsh soils near the bay. The center and north sit on the Gulf Coastal Lowlands where Tampa and Suwannee limestone is shallow and karst is real, especially around Odessa and Lutz. East toward Plant City, Lithia and Fort Lonesome the land rises onto the Polk upland edge with Zolfo, Seffner, Tavares and Adamsville fine sands over the phosphatic Bone Valley section of the Hawthorn Group. Flatwoods Spodosols with a spodic hardpan at 20 to 40 inches cover most of the rural south county. The Alafia, Little Manatee and Hillsborough Rivers cut broad floodplains with Floridana, Chobee and organic soils.
Grubbing volume swings hard between improved pasture and old citrus (light) and palmetto flatwoods or river hammock (heavy). In the northwest, karst is the controlling risk: expect variable rock depth, raveling zones and the possibility of subsidence features that need grouting or over excavation, and get borings before committing to a cut. On the east side reclaimed and mined ground brings clay settling areas and unconsolidated overburden that will not carry equipment or support pile until it is proofrolled and, in places, surcharged. Base rock and structural fill are locally available, which is a genuine cost advantage over most Florida counties. Trenching is straightforward sand except where limestone rises into the trench line, and near the bay you dewater almost immediately. Erosion control at the coastal end is turbidity control into Tampa Bay tributaries, which draws close FDEP and EPC of Hillsborough County attention.
Full detail on the Hillsborough County market is on the Hillsborough 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.