Complete civil packages for utility solar near Bainbridge, OH: 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 Bainbridge in Ross County, Ohio. One contract covers clearing through final stabilization, with Backwell field leadership on site.
West on US 50 in the Paint Creek gorge with limestone and dolomite quarry supply in the area. Good short haul stone source for work in the western townships.
Publicly reported utility-scale solar in and around Ross 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.
Ross County is built around the Scioto River valley, where broad glacial outwash terraces and floodplain meet the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau on the east and south along the Illinoian glacial boundary. The Ross series itself is named for this county and maps on the bottoms alongside Huntington and Genesee, while Fox, Ockley, and Sleeth cover the gravel terraces and Wellston, Shelocta, and Gilpin cover the hill country. Bedrock in the hills is Mississippian sandstone and shale, including Black Hand Sandstone at Copperas Mountain, and it sits shallow on ridge shoulders. Paint Creek and Deer Creek join the Scioto near Chillicothe, so much of the low ground is regulated floodplain with a high seasonal water table.
The Scioto and Paint Creek terraces are the best civil ground on this list: deep sand and gravel, free draining, strong bearing, and on site granular borrow that makes access roads and trench backfill cheap and weather tolerant. The offset is that low terrace and floodplain work sits inside mapped floodway with elevation and permit constraints and a water table close enough to matter for trench dewatering and foundation work. Move east or south into the hills and the job changes to shallow rock, ripping in road cut and trench, benched access on side slopes, and long slope erosion control with diversion berms and rock outlets.
Full detail on the Ross County market is on the Ross 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. Ohio does not issue a statewide general contractor, excavation, or sitework license. The Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board, under the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Industrial Compliance, licenses only five commercial specialty trades: electrical, HVAC, refrigeration, plumbing, and hydronics. Commercial civil sitework, earthwork, and grading require no state trade license, so qualification comes through local registration where a county or municipality requires it, permits, insurance, and owner or EPC prequalification. Contractors bidding state highway work separately need Ohio Department of Transportation prequalification.
Construction stormwater. Ohio EPA NPDES Construction Storm Water General Permit, currently designated OHC000006, issued by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Division of Surface Water. Coverage requires a Notice of Intent and a site specific Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan for earth disturbance of one acre or more, including smaller areas that are part of a larger common plan of development, which covers essentially every utility scale solar site. 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 through the Inflation Reduction Act to projects of 1 MW AC and above that claim the full investment or production tax credit, along with the apprenticeship hour requirements, so nearly every utility scale solar site in Ohio is a certified payroll job. On top of that, Ohio has its own prevailing wage law under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4115, administered by the Ohio Department of Commerce, Bureau of Wage and Hour Administration, but it attaches to public improvements financed with public funds and does not automatically apply to privately financed solar. In practice some Ohio solar applicants have voluntarily committed to prevailing wage or labor agreements as part of their OPSB cases, for example the labor agreement reported in the Sloopy Solar case in Clark County, so bidders should read the certificate conditions and the EPC contract, not assume. 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 Ohio 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.
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