Dredge Operators
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations- O*NET-SOC code
- 53-7031.00
Operate dredge to remove sand, gravel, or other materials in order to excavate and maintain navigable channels in waterways.
- Data source: BLSPublished: 2026-08
Low· relative
LowFour relative bandsVery highGroup-level value
Scale, basis and source
Four relative bands (Low / Moderate / High / Very high)
831 detailed occupations in the BLS Employment Projections table. Assigned per National Employment Matrix (NEM) code, so occupations sharing a NEM code carry the same band
- Data source: AnthropicPublished: 2026-03
0.000
0.000Range of values carried here0.745Scale, basis and source
Observed exposure index, 0–1 as published
Mapped onto O*NET tasks
Published per SOC 2018 occupation; every O*NET occupation with the same SOC 2018 code carries this value
- Data source: ILOPublished: 2025
0.13
0.09Range of values carried here0.70Group-level value
Scale, basis and source
Generative AI exposure index, 0–1 as published
Published per ISCO-08 unit group. Linked to this occupation, wholly or in part, by applying U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics crosswalks (ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC, 2010 SOC to 2018 SOC) as published
What kind of figure this source publishes
The BLS category is a relative rank, not an absolute level, and it is not a first-hand measurement: it groups an occupation's percentile ranks across several published studies into four bands. It is not an employment or wage forecast, not a probability of adoption, and it does not separate automation from augmentation.
Task-level exposure
6 rated tasks · 0 tasks with β ≥ 0.5 (0.0%)
β = direct exposure (E1) + 0.5 × exposure when tools are available (E2), per the source repository's definition.
- Source unit: O*NET 27.2 tasks → O*NET 31.0 occupation code
- All rated tasks are in the O*NET 31.0 task list.
- Source
- OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" exposure rubric
- Release
- gh-main-0471612
- License
- MIT License, Copyright (c) 2024 OpenAI
Values in this tab are predicted labels, not observations. Eloundou et al. (2023) published two rating regimes — human raters and GPT-4 — and the β shown here is derived from the GPT-4 rater basis alone; the same task can take a different value under the other regime.
| Task (O*NET 27.2) | βE1 + 0.5 × E2 |
|---|---|
Move levers to position dredges for excavation, to engage hydraulic pumps, to raise and lower suction booms, and to control rotation of cutterheads.O*NET Task ID 15177 | 0.0 |
Start and stop engines to operate equipment.O*NET Task ID 15178 | 0.0 |
Start power winches that draw in or let out cables to change positions of dredges, or pull in and let out cables manually.O*NET Task ID 15179 | 0.0 |
Pump water to clear machinery pipelines.O*NET Task ID 15180 | 0.0 |
Lower anchor poles to verify depths of excavations, using winches, or scan depth gauges to determine depths of excavations.O*NET Task ID 15181 | 0.0 |
Direct or assist workers placing shore anchors and cables, laying additional pipes from dredges to shore, and pumping water from pontoons.O*NET Task ID 15182 | 0.0 |
β = E1 + 0.5 × E2 · E1 = tasks where direct LLM access alone cuts time by at least 50%, E2 = tasks where software built on top of an LLM cuts time by at least 50%. Values take only 0 / 0.5 / 1.0.
Data sources & licenses — O*NET®, Eloundou et al. (2023): see full notices on the Credits page
All O*NET 31.0 task statements (6)
All O*NET 31.0 task statements for this occupation (English, as published; task type core or supplemental). Exposure values are not listed here; they are in the table above, next to each task statement as worded in the O*NET version each source used.
| Task (O*NET 31.0) | Type |
|---|---|
| Move levers to position dredges for excavation, to engage hydraulic pumps, to raise and lower suction booms, and to control rotation of cutterheads. | Core |
| Start and stop engines to operate equipment. | Core |
| Start power winches that draw in or let out cables to change positions of dredges, or pull in and let out cables manually. | Core |
| Pump water to clear machinery pipelines. | Core |
| Lower anchor poles to verify depths of excavations, using winches, or scan depth gauges to determine depths of excavations. | Core |
| Direct or assist workers placing shore anchors and cables, laying additional pipes from dredges to shore, and pumping water from pontoons. | Core |
1.69/ 3· Robot exposure index
Scale, basis and source
Each physical task is graded 0–3 by the setting in which robots that have been deployed, sold or demonstrated could do it (0 none · 1 purpose-built robot settings such as a fenced machine cell or a bottling line · 2 structured facilities such as a hospital pharmacy or a container port · 3 unstructured settings such as a private home or a construction site), and the grades are averaged by share of working time
Physical tasks among this occupation's O*NET 29.3 tasks
Anthropic estimated the grades and time shares with Claude Opus 5 using web search, as of 2026.
The robot exposure index is a different measure from the AI exposure figures on this site and cannot be added to or compared with them. It does not measure actual adoption or cost, and 0 also covers occupations with no physical tasks.
Tier of each physical task
Robot environment tiers (E0–E3)
E0 noneDetails
Rated not doable by robots that have been deployed, sold or demonstrated, even in a purpose-built setting
E1 purpose-built robot settingsDetails
Rated doable in a setting built around the machine, such as a fenced machine cell or a bottling line
E2 structured facilitiesDetails
Rated doable in a human work facility that an institution keeps to a working standard, such as a hospital pharmacy or a container port
E3 unstructured settingsDetails
Rated doable in a setting that no institution keeps to a working standard, such as a private home or a construction site
Only tasks classified as physical are listed; other tasks have no tier in the source.
| Task (O*NET 29.3) | Robot environment tier |
|---|---|
| Move levers to position dredges for excavation, to engage hydraulic pumps, to raise and lower suction booms, and to control rotation of cutterheads. | E2 structured facilities |
| Start and stop engines to operate equipment. | E2 structured facilities |
| Start power winches that draw in or let out cables to change positions of dredges, or pull in and let out cables manually. | E2 structured facilities |
| Lower anchor poles to verify depths of excavations, using winches, or scan depth gauges to determine depths of excavations. | E2 structured facilities |
| Direct or assist workers placing shore anchors and cables, laying additional pipes from dredges to shore, and pumping water from pontoons. | E0 none |
Occupation information
Employment outlook (BLS)
- Employment, 2025
- 1K
- Projected employment, 2035
- 1K
- Change (2025–35)
- +0.7%
- Median annual wage, 2025
- $49,640
- Typical education needed for entry
- High school diploma or equivalent
Korea classification links (KSCO)
Links from the current release of the Korea Occupation Direct Crosswalk v1.1, made by AI Changing Work. Relation values are read from the O*NET-SOC occupation side.
| KSCO code | KSCO title | Relation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 87409 | 그 외 건설 및 채굴기계 운전원 | This occupation is narrower | confirmed |
Relation and status definitions(kr-direct v1.1)
ILO occupational description
AI Changing Work links the ISCO-08 unit groups below to this occupation by applying the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics crosswalks (2018 SOC to 2010 SOC, 2010 SOC to ISCO-08) as published, without case-by-case selection; each link may be whole or partial.
- ISCO-08 8342Earthmoving and Related Plant Operators
The definition, tasks and examples below are the ILO's description of that unit group, not of this occupation.
Earthmoving and related plant operators operate machines to excavate, grade, level, smooth and compact earth or similar materials.
Tasks
- (a) operating and monitoring excavating machinery equipped with moveable shovel, grab-bucket or dragline bucket, to excavate and move earth, rock, sand, gravel or similar materials;
- (b) operating and monitoring machinery for digging trenches for sewers, drainage, water, oil, gas or similar pipelines;
- (c) operating and monitoring machinery equipped with concave steel blade to move, distribute and level earth, sand, snow and other materials;
- (d) operating and monitoring equipment to remove sand, gravel and mud from bottom of body of water;
- (e) operating and monitoring machines for hammering wooden, concrete or steel piles into ground;
- (f) operating and monitoring power roller to compact and smooth layers of materials in making roads, pavements and similar work;
- (g) operating and monitoring machines which spread and smooth concrete or bituminous or tar preparations to construct roadways, roads or similar surfaces.
Example occupations
Bulldozer operator · Excavator operator · Front-end loader operator · Pile-driver operator · Road-roller operator · Road surface laying machine operator · Snow-groomer operator
Sources: ILO ISCO-08 — details: Credits
ESCO occupational vocabulary
Each entry below is matched to this occupation in the published ESCO-O*NET Crosswalk (version 1, 2022). The match types are that crosswalk's; the wording is AI Changing Work's.
- dredge operatorESCO 8342.2Same scope
Dredge operators work with industrial equipment to remove underwater material in order to make the area accessible to ships, to establish ports, to lay cables or for other purposes, and move the material to the desired location.
- excavator operatorESCO 8342.3Overlapping, not the same
Excavator operators use excavators to dig into earth or other materials to remove it. They are involved in a variety of projects, such as demolition, dredging, and the of digging holes, foundations and trenches.
Source: European Commission, DG EMPL — ESCO API 2026-08-08 (bridge v1.2.1)
License: CC BY 4.0 (EU Reuse Notice)
ESCO reuse terms and the modification notice are in Credits.
France classification links (ROME)
AI Changing Work's links between this occupation and ROME 4.0 job profiles, judged with AI models. Relations are read from this occupation's side. Links marked “provisional” were adopted on the judgments of two judges from the same model family (Claude) alone, or by an operator rule applied to their judgments, so they rest on weaker evidence than confirmed links.
| ROME code | ROME title (French) | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| F1302 | Conducteur / Conductrice d'engins de chantier | This occupation is narrowerprovisional |
Source: France Travail — Répertoire Opérationnel des Métiers et des Emplois (ROME 4.0), version 61, last updated 15 June 2026 (https://www.data.gouv.fr/datasets/repertoire-operationnel-des-metiers-et-des-emplois-rome). Licence Ouverte 2.0.
ROME codes and titles are reproduced unchanged; the links to O*NET-SOC occupations are AI Changing Work's own judgment and are not a France Travail correspondence.
(AI Changing Work link release: fr-direct v1)
Spain classification links (CNO-11)
AI Changing Work's links between this occupation and CNO-11 occupations, judged with AI models. Relations are read from this occupation's side.
| CNO-11 code | CNO-11 title (Spanish) | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| 8331 | Operadores de maquinaria de movimientos de tierras y equipos similares | This occupation is narrower |
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), National Classification of Occupations 2011 (CNO-11, Royal Decree 1591/2010) — www.ine.es · Licensed CC BY 4.0. CNO-11 codes and Spanish titles are reproduced unchanged; the links to O*NET occupations are AI Changing Work's own judgment and are not an INE correspondence.
(AI Changing Work link release: es-direct v1)
Germany classification links (KldB)
AI Changing Work's links between this occupation and KldB occupations, judged with AI models. Relations are read from this occupation's side.
| KldB code | KldB title (German) | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| 52522 | Führer/innen von Erdbewegungs- und verwandten Maschinen - fachlich ausgerichtete Tätigkeiten | This occupation is narrower |
| 32262 | Berufe im Kultur- und Wasserbau - fachlich ausgerichtete Tätigkeiten | Related, not a match |
Source: © Statistik der Bundesagentur für Arbeit — Klassifikation der Berufe 2010 – überarbeitete Fassung 2020, https://statistik.arbeitsagentur.de. KldB codes and titles are reproduced unchanged; the links to O*NET occupations are AI Changing Work's own mapping (eigene Zuordnung) and are not a Bundesagentur für Arbeit correspondence.
(AI Changing Work link release: de-direct v1)
Japan classification links (JSCO)
AI Changing Work's links between this occupation and JSCO occupations, judged with AI models. Relations are read from this occupation's side.
| JSCO code | JSCO title (Japanese) | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| 645 | 建設・さく井機械運転従事者 | This occupation is narrowerprovisional |
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), Japan Standard Occupational Classification (Dec. 2009, MIC Notification No. 555). JSCO codes and Japanese titles are reproduced unchanged; the links to O*NET occupations are AI Changing Work's own judgment and are not a MIC correspondence.
(AI Changing Work link release: jp-direct v1)
Sources, licenses and AI Changing Work's modification and translation notices for this page: Credits & sources