Will AI replace Bridge and Lock Tenders?

Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 18 official task statements scored for Bridge and Lock Tenders (United States, SOC 53-6011), 5% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 14 out of 100 (range 11–19, band: minimal). That is a statement about tasks, not about headcount: this measures what AI could do, not whether any employer adopts it, whether the law allows it, or whether doing the routine parts faster creates more demand for the human parts. Figures are from release 2026-q4.1.

Which tasks in “Bridge and Lock Tenders” can AI already do?

The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Write and submit maintenance work requisitions” (69/100, high); “Prepare accident reports” (56/100, partial); “Record names, types, and destinations of vessels passing through bridge openings or locks, and numbers of trains or vehicles crossing bridges” (38/100, low). Each score comes from five published 0–4 ratings turned into a number by a published formula, and each carries the model's one-sentence reason on the page.

Which tasks in “Bridge and Lock Tenders” stay human?

About 89% of this job's task weight sits in work that scores low for AI exposure. The lowest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Attach ropes or cable lines to bitts on lock decks or wharfs to secure vessels” (0/100, minimal); “Raise drawbridges and observe passage of water traffic or lower drawbridges and raise automobile gates” (0/100, minimal); “Stop automobile and pedestrian traffic on bridges, and lower automobile gates prior to moving bridges” (0/100, minimal). Low scores usually mean the task needs a body in a room, a legally accountable human, or trust built in real time. Those are the three things the scoring rubric treats as gates rather than obstacles.

What should someone working in “Bridge and Lock Tenders” do about AI?

Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 5% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 89% is not. The practical move is to spend more of your week on the tasks that score low, the ones above, and to get fluent at directing AI through the tasks that score high, because those are the parts that change whether or not you are ready for them. This page does not predict your job, and nothing here is career advice tailored to you: the score describes the occupation, not the person.

How is the AI exposure score for Bridge and Lock Tenders calculated?

Each official task statement for the occupation is rated on five published 0–4 dimensions (output replicability, physical embodiment, licensed accountability, real-time human trust, and data availability) by claude-opus-5 using scoring prompt task_scoring_v1.0. The model never writes the score; a published formula turns the five ratings into a 0–100 number, so every score can be recomputed by hand. The occupation figure is the importance-weighted mean across 18 scored tasks. The prompt, the rubric, the formula and the full dataset are published at https://futureproof.collab365.com/method and https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1 under CC BY 4.0.

US dataswitch to UK

Bridge and Lock Tenders

turning valves to increase or decrease water levels in locks, raising drawbridges and observing passage of water traffic or lower drawbridges and raise automobile gates and maintaining and guarding stations in bridges to check waterways for boat traffic. If that's your week, this page is about your job.

The honest answer

AI changes the edges of this job, not the middle: controlling machinery to open and close canal locks and dams is work software can't reach.

Your move: what you can actually do about this ↓

Where the work sits, by task weight

shifting to AI: 5%
changing shape: 6%
staying human: 89%

These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.

Whole-job exposure score 14 out of 100 (11–19 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, across 18 scored tasks. The number is the support for the sentence above it, not a headline about anyone’s future.

How we know this

What is measured: Every published task statement for bridge and lock tenders is rated on five dimensions: can a model produce the output, does the work need a body in a room, does it need a legally accountable person, does it depend on a person being trusted in the moment, and how much data exists. A published formula turns those five ratings into the score; the model never writes the number.

How the bar is built: Each task’s share of the bar is its published importance weight, so a task you do all day counts for more than one you do twice a year.

Release: 2026-q4.1, scores computed 2026-08-05. Read the full method.

What shifts is writing and submitting maintenance work requisitions: the paper around the work, not the work.

Your week, as this page understands it

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. The job title says “bridge” or “lock tenders”: officially one job, two names. The real job is the part underneath: controlling machinery to open and close canal locks and dams. That is the thing someone has to be right about.

The exposed part of this job is specific, and we won’t pretend it is coming back. But bridge and lock tenders is not one task. It is 18 scored ones, and they are nowhere near equally exposed. The most durable of them, on this evidence, is controlling machinery to open and close canal locks and dams, and the ledger below shows exactly why.

Where the work sits, by task weight

shifting to AI: 5%
changing shape: 6%
staying human: 89%

These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.

How we know this

How the bar is built: Each task’s share of the bar is its published importance weight, so a task you do all day counts for more than one you do twice a year.

Release: 2026-q4.1, scores computed 2026-08-05. Read the full method.

Your job, task by task

These are the official task statements for this occupation, in plain English, sorted by what the evidence says is happening to each one. The official wording sits under every line so you can check the rewrite against it.

3 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.

Shifting to AI

1 task

Tasks today’s tools can already do most of. This is the part we will not soften: where these rows are the bulk of your week, the week changes.

Writing and submitting maintenance work requisitions
This is reading one thing and writing another: maintenance work requisitions in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Write and submit maintenance work requisitions.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 69 out of 100 (65–73 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Writing up a maintenance request is standard form-filling that software drafts well once the problem is known.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.

Changing shape

1 task

Tasks where the machine takes the producing and a person keeps the checking, the deciding, or the answering-for-it. For most jobs this is the biggest group, and it is where "transformation, not termination" is literally visible.

Preparing accident reports
The software now makes the first pass at accident reports, but the deciding part still needs a person. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Prepare accident reports.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 56 out of 100 (52–60 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: An accident report is structured writing from known facts, which software drafts to a standard a supervisor would accept.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.

Staying human

16 tasks

Tasks that stay with a person, because they happen in the physical world, because the rules need someone accountable, or because the value is that a specific person does them.

Controlling machinery to open and close canal locks and dams
This work happens in the physical world: machinery, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · Core
Source: “Control machinery to open and close canal locks and dams, railroad or highway drawbridges, or horizontally or vertically adjustable bridges.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Opening and closing a bridge or lock means someone physically working the controls at the structure itself.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Recording names, types and destinations of vessels passing through bridge openings or locks and numbers of trains or vehicles crossing bridges
This work happens in the physical world: names, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · Core
Source: “Record names, types, and destinations of vessels passing through bridge openings or locks, and numbers of trains or vehicles crossing bridges.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 38 out of 100 (31–45 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Logging vessel and traffic details is routine record-keeping, though someone still has to be there to see what passes.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Directing movements of vessels in locks or bridge areas
This work happens in the physical world: movements of vessels, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · Core
Source: “Direct movements of vessels in locks or bridge areas, using signals, telecommunication equipment, or loudspeakers.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 5 out of 100 (0–12 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Directing vessels means watching them from the site and signaling in the moment, which software cannot do from a desk.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Moving levers to activate traffic signals
This work happens in the physical world: levers, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · Core
Source: “Move levers to activate traffic signals, navigation lights, and alarms.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Activating signals, lights and alarms is hands-on operation of controls at the bridge.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Observing position and progress of vessels to ensure best use of lock spaces or bridge opening spaces
This work happens in the physical world: position, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · Core
Source: “Observe position and progress of vessels to ensure best use of lock spaces or bridge opening spaces.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 6 out of 100 (0–13 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Judging how vessels fit into a lock depends on watching them arrive from the tender’s own vantage point.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Logging data, such as water levels and weather conditions
This work happens in the physical world: data, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Log data, such as water levels and weather conditions.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 38 out of 100 (34–42 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Water levels and weather are already measured by instruments, so logging them is largely a recording job.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Observing approaching vessels to determine size
This work happens in the physical world: vessels, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · Core
Source: “Observe approaching vessels to determine size and speed, and listen for whistle signals indicating desire to pass.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 6 out of 100 (2–10 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Spotting an approaching boat’s size and speed and hearing its whistle needs a person stationed at the crossing.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Performing maintenance duties, such as sweeping, painting and yard work to keep facilities clean and in order
This work happens in the physical world: maintenance duties, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Perform maintenance duties, such as sweeping, painting, and yard work to keep facilities clean and in order.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Sweeping, painting and yard work are physical jobs that need a person on site.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.

Show the other 8 tasks

Inspecting canal and bridge equipment
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: canal, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Inspect canal and bridge equipment, and areas, such as roadbeds, for damage or defects, reporting problems to supervisors as necessary.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 8 out of 100 (1–15 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Finding damage in bridge equipment and roadbeds depends on walking the structure and looking closely.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Checking that bridges are clear of vehicles and pedestrians prior to opening
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: bridges are clear of vehicles, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · Supplemental
Source: “Check that bridges are clear of vehicles and pedestrians prior to opening.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 5 out of 100 (0–12 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Confirming a bridge is clear of people and cars relies on someone looking at it right before it opens.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Maintaining and guarding stations in bridges to check waterways for boat traffic
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: stations, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · Supplemental
Source: “Maintain and guard stations in bridges to check waterways for boat traffic.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Guarding a station and watching the waterway is a job defined by being there.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Cleaning and lubricating equipment and making minor repairs and adjustments
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · Supplemental
Source: “Clean and lubricate equipment, and make minor repairs and adjustments.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Cleaning, lubricating and adjusting equipment needs hands on the machinery.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Turning valves to increase or decrease water levels in locks
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: valves, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · Supplemental
Source: “Turn valves to increase or decrease water levels in locks.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Turning lock valves is physical work at the lock side.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Stopping automobile and pedestrian traffic on bridges
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: automobile, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · Supplemental
Source: “Stop automobile and pedestrian traffic on bridges, and lower automobile gates prior to moving bridges.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Stopping traffic and lowering gates is physical control of the roadway.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Raising drawbridges and observing passage of water traffic or lower drawbridges and raise automobile gates
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: drawbridges, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · Supplemental
Source: “Raise drawbridges and observe passage of water traffic or lower drawbridges and raise automobile gates.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Raising and lowering a drawbridge is hands-on machine operation with eyes on the water.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Attaching ropes or cable lines to bitts on lock decks or wharfs to secure vessels
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: ropes, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Attach ropes or cable lines to bitts on lock decks or wharfs to secure vessels.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Tying lines to bitts is physical work on the lock deck.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.

What this job pays, and how many people do it

Median pay: $57,700a year, the middle of the range, so half earn more and half earn less.bls-oews, 2025 · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
How we know this
Source: bls-oews
Reference period: May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
Rounding: Shown as published.
People doing this job: 3,040in the US, 2025.bls-oews · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)

What is deliberately not here: a forecast of how many of these jobs exist in ten years. Where an official projection exists for a market we publish it with its vintage; where it does not, we leave the space empty rather than borrow the other country’s number.

Why this is shifting

The reason is boringly specific. Most of what is shifting here is reading one thing and writing another: maintenance work requisitions in, a record out. The rows above are exactly that shape: writing and submitting maintenance work requisitions and preparing accident reports. What it cannot do is be there in the room, and that is still where machinery gets done. Which is why this page talks about your tasks changing, not your job ending.

Your move

Over a pint: what I’d tell you if you were my friend

Start with what does not change: controlling machinery to open and close canal locks and dams is the middle of this job, and the evidence on this page says it stays with a person.

So, given all that: 5% of this job's task weight sits in rows the software is already learning, 6% in rows that change shape rather than disappear, and 89% in rows it is nowhere near. That is the position, measured across 18 scored tasks. It is not a forecast about you.

So the thing worth your attention is not the job going away. It is the layer around it. Writing and submitting maintenance work requisitions is the part turning into software, and being the person who understands that layer is worth money.

This week: one thing

Ask the one question. Find whoever is bringing new software into your workplace (the manager, the office, whoever runs the system) and ask them what it is meant to do to maintenance work requisitions, and what it is not meant to touch. Ten minutes, this week, before anyone decides it for you.

What you end up holding: a straight answer about what is actually being rolled out, and when
How long it takes: ten minutes

If there’s nobody obvious to ask, or you’d rather not ask your manager: Put the same question to your union rep, your shift lead or the person who has been there longest, in person, over a break. Same ten minutes, same answer, and you will usually get a straighter one. Write down what they say. The note is the artifact, and it tells you whether machinery is in scope or not. Nothing to log into, no license needed.

Over the next 90 days

Get inside the tool rollout rather than waiting for it. Over the next ninety days, ask to be in the group that tests, checks or signs off whatever new system arrives near preparing accident reports. It is usually an unglamorous seat that nobody fights for, and it is the one that decides how the software is used on your job rather than to it.

Over the next 12 months

On this evidence I would not retrain out of this job, and I will say that plainly rather than hedge it. The task list here is dominated by work that stays with a person. What I would do with a year is get formally recognised for the layer around it (the systems, the compliance, the planning), so you are the one who understands the software instead of the one it is done to. Before you pay for anything, use CareerOneStop - Find local training. It is free, it is the Labor Department's own service, and it is listed below with the rest of the free routes.

The roads out of here, and why I am not sending you down them

I looked at the obvious moves out of this job, and here is what I found.

I checked the 12 nearest US occupations to bridge and lock tenders (nearest by the work that AI is not taking, not by job title), and none of them survived. The closest was railroad conductors and yardmasters: only about 5% of its durable work is work you already do. And on the numbers you do not need one. This job scores 14/100 here, with only 5% of the task list in the top band, and “control machinery to open and close canal locks and dams, railroad or…” is not work that hands over cleanly. None of them beats deepening what you already have.

How that was checked: this job was compared against all 830 US occupations in this release on their official task statements, and the 12 nearest were examined one by one. A move that turns on an industry, an employer or a qualification rather than on the work itself will not show up in a check like that. And this release carries no licence register, so anything you are weighing needs that looked up separately.

3 moves I checked and rejected

These are the obvious-looking jumps. They are here with their reasons rather than quietly dropped, because the ones that fail are worth knowing about. It is one less thing to turn over at night.

Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already move levers to activate traffic signals, navigation lights, and alarms, and their equivalent is to operate controls to activate track switches and traffic signals. Across both published task lists that is about 5% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 5% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step.
Look at that job’s page anyway →
Traffic Technicians
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already clean and lubricate equipment, and make minor repairs and adjustments, and their equivalent is to maintain or make minor adjustments or field repairs to equipment used in surveys. Across both published task lists that is about 2% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 2% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step.
Look at that job’s page anyway →
Construction Laborers
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already clean and lubricate equipment, and make minor repairs and adjustments, and their equivalent is to lubricate, clean, or repair machinery, equipment, or tools. Across both published task lists that is about 2% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 2% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step. It is a pay cut, in those words: $47,120 against your $57,700, 18.3% less (OEWS May 2025 (both)). Retraining to earn less is a decision, not advice.
Look at that job’s page anyway →

What I’d stop worrying about

A friend tells you what not to spend fear on. This is that list.

The headline number you read somewhere
The big “X% of jobs” figures are about the whole economy, not about you. The number that describes your job is on this page: 5% of its task weight, across 18 scored tasks. Every row behind it is printed above with the source. Check ours; ignore theirs.
The headlines about your trade disappearing
They are usually about the technology, not the timetable. Changes to work like controlling machinery to open and close canal locks and dams arrive through rules, insurance and money, slowly and visibly. This page tracks the task evidence and will move when it moves.
Retraining out of a job that is holding up
On this evidence I would not spend money leaving. Spend it on the layer around the job instead: the tools, the paperwork, the planning. That is where the change actually is.
The “obvious” next job everyone suggests
I checked the obvious moves and most of them did not survive. The reasons are printed with the routes above, including the pay and the gate. A move that fails on the numbers is worth knowing about so you can stop turning it over at night.

If you run a team doing this job

If you run a team doing this job, the conversation you owe them is the one on this page, and sooner than feels comfortable. Show them the ledger rather than a reassurance: the rows moving toward the software are writing and submitting maintenance work requisitions, and the rows that are not are where you want your people visible. Ask each of them to do the this-week move and bring the list to your next one-to-one. It turns a rumour into a piece of work, and it tells you which parts of your team's week are actually at stake. And say the thing out loud that a team lead usually leaves unsaid: a shrinking team is your exposure too, so do the move yourself as well.

You are reading the United States figures

The United Kingdom splits this work across more than one official group, of which Crane drivers is the closest. The pay and employment figures are not directly comparable, and we do not average them together.

Switch to the United Kingdom page →partial match

In UK official statistics this job is counted as Crane drivers. Pay and employment stay on this page’s own group; the task list and the scores do not cross over.

Your route through this

Where to go next, and what it costs

Free, and complete

The moves above cost nothing. These are the real services that go with them: public, government-funded, and free at the point of use. Nothing on this page is behind an email address or a payment.

Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Find local training
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An American Job Center will sit down with you for free. Find yours by ZIP code.
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CareerOneStop - Licensed occupations finder
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Anywhere in the US:
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No Space for this job, but one for what is happening to it

Nothing Collab365 runs is built for bridge / lock tenders, and we are not going to point you at the nearest one and call it a fit.

There is one that is not about a job title at all. The AI Authority is about being the person who directs these tools at work rather than the person they get compared to. That is worth saying here, because 5% of the work on this page is already inside what they can do.

Try The AI Authority free →

7 days free, no card needed. Explore up to 2 Spaces before you choose a plan: you pick a plan later, not now.

The AI Authority is a general community about working with AI, not a course for bridge / lock tenders. You do not need it to act on anything here: the moves above cost nothing and stand on their own. The data on this page is the same either way.

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Questions people ask about this job

Will AI replace Bridge and Lock Tenders?: Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 18 official task statements scored for Bridge and Lock Tenders (United States, SOC 53-6011), 5% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 14 out of 100 (range 11–19, band: minimal). That is a statement about tasks, not about headcount: this measures what AI could do, not whether any employer adopts it, whether the law allows it, or whether doing the routine parts faster creates more demand for the human parts. Figures are from release 2026-q4.1.
Which tasks in “Bridge and Lock Tenders” can AI already do?: The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Write and submit maintenance work requisitions” (69/100, high); “Prepare accident reports” (56/100, partial); “Record names, types, and destinations of vessels passing through bridge openings or locks, and numbers of trains or vehicles crossing bridges” (38/100, low). Each score comes from five published 0–4 ratings turned into a number by a published formula, and each carries the model's one-sentence reason on the page.
Which tasks in “Bridge and Lock Tenders” stay human?: About 89% of this job's task weight sits in work that scores low for AI exposure. The lowest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Attach ropes or cable lines to bitts on lock decks or wharfs to secure vessels” (0/100, minimal); “Raise drawbridges and observe passage of water traffic or lower drawbridges and raise automobile gates” (0/100, minimal); “Stop automobile and pedestrian traffic on bridges, and lower automobile gates prior to moving bridges” (0/100, minimal). Low scores usually mean the task needs a body in a room, a legally accountable human, or trust built in real time. Those are the three things the scoring rubric treats as gates rather than obstacles.
What should someone working in “Bridge and Lock Tenders” do about AI?: Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 5% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 89% is not. The practical move is to spend more of your week on the tasks that score low, the ones above, and to get fluent at directing AI through the tasks that score high, because those are the parts that change whether or not you are ready for them. This page does not predict your job, and nothing here is career advice tailored to you: the score describes the occupation, not the person.
How is the AI exposure score for Bridge and Lock Tenders calculated?: Each official task statement for the occupation is rated on five published 0–4 dimensions (output replicability, physical embodiment, licensed accountability, real-time human trust, and data availability) by claude-opus-5 using scoring prompt task_scoring_v1.0. The model never writes the score; a published formula turns the five ratings into a 0–100 number, so every score can be recomputed by hand. The occupation figure is the importance-weighted mean across 18 scored tasks. The prompt, the rubric, the formula and the full dataset are published at https://futureproof.collab365.com/method and https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1 under CC BY 4.0.

Where these numbers come from

Worth knowing about these figures

The match between this job and its counterpart in the other country is partial, so the two pages count slightly different groups of people.
3 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.

Task statements: onet-dbProcessing: catalogue-bridge → onet-im-rt-weighting → task-scoring → score-aggregation
Task weights: onet-db (im-rt)
Scores: Rubric task_scoring_v1.0, model claude-opus-5, computed 2026-08-05.
Pay and employment: bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))

Figures on this page come from release 2026-q4.1, published 2026-08-05. Every release keeps its own permanent address, so a figure you cite in March is still there, unchanged, in November.

The plain-English wording on this page is assembled directly from the task statements and the published ratings, not written by hand for this occupation. That is why it is specific, and it is also why we say so.

The routes and free resources further up are today’s, not the release’s (last reviewed 2026-08-05). A route is an offer, not a historical fact, so it moves on its own clock.

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Plain text

Collab365 (2026). Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1 (methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0). https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Built with O*NET data (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); ONS data (Open Government Licence v3.0); GAISI task framework (arXiv:2507.22748, MIT); BLS data (public domain).

BibTeX

@misc{collab365futureproof2026q41,
  title        = {Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1},
  author       = {{Collab365}},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1},
  note         = {Release 2026-q4.1, methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0, CC BY 4.0}
}

Permalink

https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1

Data as of release 2026-q4.1, published 2026-08-05. Releases never change after publication; when the figures move, a new dated release is published beside this one and this one stays exactly where it is.