Complete civil packages for utility solar near Portage, 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 Portage in Columbia County, Wisconsin. One contract covers clearing through final stabilization, with Backwell field leadership on site.
The I-39, I-90, and I-94 concurrency runs right through Portage, making it the best heavy haul node in central Wisconsin. Canadian Pacific mainline and an Amtrak stop are here, and the Columbia Energy Center site at Pacific brings substantial transmission and switchyard infrastructure into the immediate area.
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 is a transition county: the Johnstown terminal moraine of the Green Bay Lobe crosses it, leaving hummocky end moraine and drumlinized till plain on the east and northeast, while the northwest opens into the sandy Wisconsin River corridor and the old outlet of Glacial Lake Wisconsin at the Dells. The city of Portage sits on the historic Fox to Wisconsin portage between two river systems, with levees and a large low marsh complex around Swan Lake and French Creek. Soils range from Wyocena sandy loam, whose type location is in this county, and Dodge and St. Charles silt loams on loess capped till, to Plainfield and Coloma sands on the river terraces, with Houghton and Palms muck in the marshes and Orion and Otter soils on the floodplains.
The silt loam uplands are easy digging but pump and rut badly after rain, so haul roads need rock and wet weather shutdown allowances should be priced in, while the underlying till is dense and cobbly with scattered boulders that slow trenching. Sandy terraces along the Wisconsin River supply free granular but weak subgrade, and the marsh and floodplain ground near Portage means mat crossings, dewatering, and wetland permitting rather than ordinary grading. Loess capped moraine slopes are highly erodible, so diversions, slope interruption, and check dams carry real cost instead of being a checkbox.
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. 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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