Explore by Career/Transportation and Material Moving
Dredge Operators
Operate dredge to remove sand, gravel, or other materials in order to excavate and maintain navigable channels in waterways.
- Median pay
- $48,430
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- +1.2%
- Stable
- Typical entry
- High school diploma or equivalent
Key skills
- Operation and Control
- Operations Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Coordination
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Monitoring
What they do
- Move levers to position dredges for excavation, to engage hydraulic pumps, to raise and lower suction booms, and to control rotation of cutterheads.
- Start and stop engines to operate equipment.
- Start power winches that draw in or let out cables to change positions of dredges, or pull in and let out cables manually.
- Pump water to clear machinery pipelines.
- Lower anchor poles to verify depths of excavations, using winches, or scan depth gauges to determine depths of excavations.
- Direct or assist workers placing shore anchors and cables, laying additional pipes from dredges to shore, and pumping water from pontoons.
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Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.