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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Bridge and Lock Tenders?
Task-level automation exposure for Bridge and Lock Tenders: 18 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
37%
weighted task index
18 of 18 tasks scored
Median Salary
$57,700 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
3,040 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-2.3%
employment change
300 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 23 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$28,090 – $78,020
Highest medians
Washington $78,020
Mississippi $74,730
Minnesota $74,420
Missouri $74,110
California $72,390
Lowest medians
Florida $28,090
Louisiana $39,090
North Carolina $41,380
Texas $45,820
Virginia $47,120
State figures come from the 53-6011 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 37%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 49%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 6%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 18%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 53/100
High
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
18 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 28%
5 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 19%
3 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 54%
10 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#7152 · Core · 10% automatable
Control machinery to open and close canal locks and dams, railroad or highway drawbridges, or horizontally or vertically adjustable bridges.
physical manipulation — Physical traffic control equipment operation
Control equipment that regulates vehicle traffic.
#7153 · Core · 5% automatable
Direct movements of vessels in locks or bridge areas, using signals, telecommunication equipment, or loudspeakers.
situated mobility — Directing live traffic requires physical presence
Direct vehicle traffic.
#7156 · Core · 55% automatable
Observe position and progress of vessels to ensure best use of lock spaces or bridge opening spaces.
information retrieval — GPS/telematics tracking is digital; exceptions need human handling
Monitor vehicle movement or location.
#7151 · Core · 82% automatable
Record names, types, and destinations of vessels passing through bridge openings or locks, and numbers of trains or vehicles crossing bridges.
text generation — Record travel operational details from provided info
Record operational details of travel.
#7155 · Core · 43% automatable
Observe approaching vessels to determine size and speed, and listen for whistle signals indicating desire to pass.
information retrieval — GPS/telematics tracking is digital; exceptions need human handling
Monitor vehicle movement or location. Monitor traffic signals.
#7150 · Core · 10% automatable
Move levers to activate traffic signals, navigation lights, and alarms.
physical manipulation — Physical traffic control equipment operation
Control equipment that regulates vehicle traffic.
#7161 · Core · 65% automatable
Write and submit maintenance work requisitions.
data analysis — AI schedules maintenance; human coordinates execution
Arrange maintenance activities. Report vehicle or equipment malfunctions.
#7160 · Core · 82% automatable
Log data, such as water levels and weather conditions.
text generation — Record travel operational details from provided info
Record operational details of travel.
#7154 · Core · 72% automatable
Prepare accident reports.
text generation — Draft incident reports; human verifies facts and liability
Prepare accident or incident reports.
#7162 · Core · 5% automatable
Perform maintenance duties, such as sweeping, painting, and yard work to keep facilities clean and in order.
physical manipulation — Physical cleaning of facilities and work areas
Clean facilities or work areas.
#7164 · Supplemental · 15% automatable
Turn valves to increase or decrease water levels in locks.
physical manipulation — Physical control of pumping equipment
Control pumps or pumping equipment.
#7163 · Supplemental · 30% automatable
Check that bridges are clear of vehicles and pedestrians prior to opening.
situated mobility — Hazard detection in surroundings needs embodied sensing
Monitor surroundings to detect potential hazards.
#7165 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Stop automobile and pedestrian traffic on bridges, and lower automobile gates prior to moving bridges.
physical manipulation — Physical traffic control equipment operation
Direct vehicle traffic. Control equipment that regulates vehicle traffic.
#7166 · Supplemental · 33% automatable
Raise drawbridges and observe passage of water traffic or lower drawbridges and raise automobile gates.
information retrieval — GPS/telematics tracking is digital; exceptions need human handling
Monitor vehicle movement or location. Control equipment that regulates vehicle traffic.
#7157 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Maintain and guard stations in bridges to check waterways for boat traffic.
information retrieval — GPS/telematics tracking is digital; exceptions need human handling
Monitor vehicle movement or location.
#7159 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Clean and lubricate equipment, and make minor repairs and adjustments.
physical manipulation — Machinery cleaning requires hands-on work
Clean machinery or equipment.
#7158 · Supplemental · 65% automatable
Inspect canal and bridge equipment, and areas, such as roadbeds, for damage or defects, reporting problems to supervisors as necessary.
text generation — Reporting malfunctions is structured information relay
Report vehicle or equipment malfunctions.
#7169 · Supplemental · 6% automatable
Attach ropes or cable lines to bitts on lock decks or wharfs to secure vessels.
physical manipulation — Mooring lines handled by hand on deck
Secure watercraft to docks, wharves or other vessels.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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