What does a Bridge and Lock Tender
actually do all day?
top skill Monitoringcore tasks 6median pay $57,700AI exposure 0/100
Bridge and Lock Tenders is moderately paced, mixed sitting & moving, some people contact work.
What this job actually does all day
The representative tasks O*NET analysts recorded for this role — not a glossy job ad, the real work.
- 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.
- Record names, types, and destinations of vessels passing through bridge openings or locks, and numbers of trains or vehicles crossing bridges.
- Observe approaching vessels to determine size and speed, and listen for whistle signals indicating desire to pass.
- Move levers to activate traffic signals, navigation lights, and alarms.
Skills & environment
Bars are O*NET importance/intensity ratings, scaled 0–100 so you can compare at a glance.
The skills it demands most
What the environment feels like
Deadline pressure: moderateConflict & friction: rarely deals with conflictNeed to be exact: precision is criticalTime spent sitting: moderateContact with people: constantly dealing with people
Go deeper on this role
How this is built. Tasks, skills, and work-environment ratings come from the
U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET occupational analysis — job analysts survey real workers, so this is the
closest thing to "what the job is actually like" in public data. Skill scores are O*NET Importance
ratings (0–5) and environment measures are Context ratings (0–5), both rescaled to 0–100 here for
easy reading. This task-and-skill detail comes straight from the O*NET database — it's
pulled straight from the survey, not invented. Figures describe the typical role, not any one person's job.
