Job Check
Bridge and Lock Tenders
Operate and tend bridges, canal locks, and lighthouses to permit marine passage on inland waterways, near shores, and at danger points in waterway passages. May supervise such operations. Includes drawbridge operators, lock operators, and slip bridge operators.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Control machinery to open and close canal locks and dams, railroad or highway drawbridges, or horizontally or vertically adjustable bridges.Mostly human for now
- 02Direct movements of vessels in locks or bridge areas, using signals, telecommunication equipment, or loudspeakers.Mostly human for now
- 03Observe position and progress of vessels to ensure best use of lock spaces or bridge opening spaces.Mostly human for now
- 04Record names, types, and destinations of vessels passing through bridge openings or locks, and numbers of trains or vehicles crossing bridges.AI could speed this up a lot
- 05Observe approaching vessels to determine size and speed, and listen for whistle signals indicating desire to pass.Mostly human for now
- 06Move levers to activate traffic signals, navigation lights, and alarms.Mostly human for now
- 07Write and submit maintenance work requisitions.AI could speed this up a lot
- 08Log data, such as water levels and weather conditions.AI could speed this up a lot
- 09Prepare accident reports.AI could speed this up a lot
- 10Perform maintenance duties, such as sweeping, painting, and yard work to keep facilities clean and in order.Mostly human for now
Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.
Four studies, side by side
None is a forecast of job lossToo little dataNot enough work use was seen to measure. This does not mean the job is safe from AI.Anthropic, 2026
29%of this job’s tasks an AI model could do in half the time, counting tasks that need extra tools as half (rated in 2023).Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023
Above 0% of jobsin how often and how well AI helped with this job’s work in Microsoft Copilot chats (2024 data).Microsoft Research (Tomlinson et al.), 2025
Above 91% of jobsin how much of this job’s physical work robots have been shown to do, from factories to homes (2026).Anthropic, 2026
Your human edge
The main tasks with no real AI use seen and no big speed-up expected. This is where your skill counts most today.
- Control machinery to open and close canal locks and dams, railroad or highway drawbridges, or horizontally or vertically adjustable bridges.
- Direct movements of vessels in locks or bridge areas, using signals, telecommunication equipment, or loudspeakers.
- Observe position and progress of vessels to ensure best use of lock spaces or bridge opening spaces.