Complete civil packages for utility solar near Parker City, IN: 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 Parker City in Randolph County, Indiana. One contract covers clearing through final stabilization, with Backwell field leadership on site.
Small town on SR 32 with rail through it and elevator facilities, useful for scales and for laydown along the highway corridor. Ground here is the same tight clay loam till that governs everything in the county.
Publicly reported utility-scale solar in and around Randolph 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.
Randolph County occupies the highest part of the Tipton Till Plain in eastern Indiana, generally 1,050 to 1,180 feet, and it sits on the regional drainage divide, so streams here are headwaters rather than rivers. The West Fork of the White River and the Mississinewa both rise in the county, and channels are small, often straightened, and heavily supplemented by tile. The surface is a Wisconsin age ground moraine of dense clay loam till with silt loam surface. Soils are Blount, Glynwood, Morley, Miami, Celina and Crosby on the low rises and Pewamo, Brookston and Milford in the depressions, with dark, high organic surface horizons in the wet units. Natural drainage is poor to very poor and effectively the entire farmed surface is on systematic tile discharging to county regulated drains.
This is heavy, plastic clay work. Subgrade bearing is good dry and poor wet, and the workable window in spring and fall is short, so schedule mass grading and access road build around moisture rather than the calendar and price a real weather allowance. Main haul roads want geotextile separation and a thick stone section or chemical modification, because untreated till will rut on the first loaded trip after rain. Clearing and grubbing volume is modest, mostly fencerows and small woodlots, but the till carries scattered glacial cobble and boulders that show up in trench and cut. Trenching is stable but the spoil is sticky, does not flow, and needs select backfill and compaction control around conduit. Tile density is high, so cut, temporary outlet and permanent repair are a planned scope. For erosion control, the runoff carries fine clay that will not settle in a standard basin, so design for extended detention with skimmers and be prepared to use flocculant to meet turbidity expectations.
Full detail on the Randolph County market is on the Randolph 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. Indiana does not issue a statewide general contractor or commercial building contractor license. Contractor licensing and registration is handled at the city and county level, so requirements vary by jurisdiction. Larger cities including Indianapolis, Evansville, Fort Wayne, and South Bend run their own contractor licensing or registration programs, generally requiring a fee, a contractor bond, general liability coverage, and workers compensation, with some jurisdictions also requiring an exam. Many rural solar host counties have no general contractor license at all, but a civil contractor should still expect county road use and haul route agreements, road maintenance bonds, county drainage board coordination on regulated drains and tile, and local building or improvement location permits. Verify the specific city or county requirement before mobilizing rather than assuming a state credential exists.
Construction stormwater. Construction Stormwater General Permit, known as the CSGP, issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, IDEM. It applies to construction activity disturbing one acre or more of total land area, and to smaller areas that are part of a larger common plan of development or sale. As of December 18, 2021 the CSGP replaced the prior program administered under 327 IAC 15-5, commonly called Rule 5. Coverage is obtained by filing a Notice of Intent, or NOI, with IDEM, supported by a stormwater pollution prevention plan. Local soil and water conservation districts and county or municipal MS4 programs typically review and inspect on IDEM's behalf, so a utility-scale solar site will usually deal with both IDEM and the county SWCD. Backwell carries the SWPPP scope, installs and maintains the controls, keeps the inspection log, and closes the permit out with final stabilization.
Prevailing wage. Indiana has no state prevailing wage law. The Indiana Common Construction Wage Act was repealed effective July 1, 2015, and the state has not replaced it, so there is no state level wage determination for public or private work. Federal Davis-Bacon prevailing wage still applies to federally funded work, and applies to utility-scale solar through the Inflation Reduction Act labor requirements: projects of 1 MW AC and larger must pay Davis-Bacon prevailing wages and meet registered apprenticeship ratios to claim the full value of the investment or production tax credit. In practice that means nearly every utility-scale solar project in Indiana is built on certified payroll with apprenticeship participation even though the state itself imposes nothing. Owners and EPCs will also often impose their own project labor agreements or workforce commitments on top of the federal requirement. 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 Indiana 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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