Complete civil packages for utility solar near Menomonie, WI: 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 Menomonie in Dunn County, Wisconsin. One contract covers clearing through final stabilization, with Backwell field leadership on site.
On I-94 and US-12 with the Union Pacific mainline through town and sand and gravel operations along the Red Cedar terraces. Deepest equipment, fuel, and labor market in the county.
Publicly reported utility-scale solar in and around Dunn 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.
Dunn County in west central Wisconsin is dissected upland country on older drift, with the Red Cedar River running south through Menomonie to meet the Chippewa River at Dunnville and leaving broad sand and gravel terraces along the valleys. Uplands are loess over dense till or over Cambrian sandstone, with steep valley walls and sandstone outcrop along the bluffs. Common soils are Chetek sandy loam and Dakota soils on the terraces, Santiago, Magnor, Freeon, and Almena silt loams on the uplands, which have a dense or fragipan like layer at roughly twenty to thirty inches that perches water, and Boone and Gale soils on the sandstone bluffs. Tainter Lake and Lake Menomin are impoundments on the Red Cedar with a long standing phosphorus and algae problem, so sediment discharge draws attention.
The perched water table over the dense subsoil means soft, saturated subgrade in spring even on hilltops, so undercut, drain tile, and stone stabilization should be planned rather than treated as a surprise. Loess capped slopes are long and highly erodible, which makes diversions, slope interruption, and blanket or heavy mulch a genuine cost item, and the Red Cedar phosphorus issue means regulators watch turbidity closely. Terrace positions supply excellent granular including industrial grade sand, but sandstone sits shallow along the bluffs, so trenching there means ripping or hammering and access roads need switchbacks rather than straight climbs.
Full detail on the Dunn County market is on the Dunn 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. Wisconsin does not issue a statewide general contractor or commercial building contractor license. Commercial civil sitework is not licensed at the state level: it is controlled through local building and site permits, Department of Safety and Professional Services plan review for buildings and structures, and Department of Natural Resources permits for stormwater and any wetland or waterway work. State credentials from DSPS apply to one and two family dwelling contractors, through the Dwelling Contractor Certification and the Dwelling Contractor Qualifier, and to the separately licensed trades such as electrical, plumbing, and HVAC. For a solar civil package, the practical prequalification gates are insurance, experience modification rate, bonding capacity, and EPC prequalification rather than a state contractor license number. Confirm town, village, and county requirements site by site, since some municipalities require contractor registration or road use and haul route agreements.
Construction stormwater. Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) Construction Site Storm Water Runoff General Permit, storm water associated with land disturbing construction activity, General Permit No. WI-S067831-6, issued by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources under Chapter NR 216, Subchapter III of the Wisconsin Administrative Code. Coverage is required for most construction projects disturbing one or more acres, and the applicant submits a Notice of Intent along with an erosion control plan and a post construction storm water management plan. Backwell carries the SWPPP scope, installs and maintains the controls, keeps the inspection log, and closes the permit out with final stabilization.
Prevailing wage. Wisconsin repealed its own state prevailing wage law. The requirement was eliminated for local government public works projects effective January 1, 2017, and for state and state highway projects effective in 2017, so there is no state prevailing wage schedule applying to private utility scale solar construction in Wisconsin. Federal Davis-Bacon wage determinations still apply through the Inflation Reduction Act prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements for projects of 1 MW alternating current and above that claim the increased investment or production tax credit, and virtually every project in this list is far above that threshold. In practice that means certified payroll, Davis-Bacon classification, and registered apprenticeship participation are contract conditions flowed down by the EPC even though no state law compels them. Project labor agreements or owner specific labor commitments can add union scale requirements on top, so confirm the labor terms in each EPC's subcontract rather than assuming the absence of a state law means open shop. 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 Wisconsin 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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