Bridge and Lock Tenders
In short: today's best AI models could do about 15% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 85% of the time, stays with people.
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.
3,040 people do this job in the US. $57,700 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on6 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people34 h
Bridge and Lock Tenders, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 6 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 34 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Log data, such as water levels and weather conditions (about 2 h); Record names, types, and destinations of vessels passing through bridge openings or locks, and numbers of trains or vehicles crossing bridges (about 2 h); Prepare accident reports (about 1 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 15%
- 0%
- 85%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 5%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 15%. Today's estimate: 15%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
None of this job's 18 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 65% of this job's working time as physical work. For 65% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 23% in a purpose-built cell, 42% in a structured facility. 1.08 of 3, the 85th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 35%
- In a purpose-built cell 23%
- In a structured facility 42%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 18 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maintain and guard stations in bridges to check waterways for boat traffic.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, Knightscope K5 Autonomous Security Robot (Knightscope, Inc.) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 18% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform maintenance duties, such as sweeping, painting, and yard work to keep facilities clean and in order.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Avidbots Neo (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 13% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Direct movements of vessels in locks or bridge areas, using signals, telecommunication equipment, or loudspeakers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Control machinery to open and close canal locks and dams, railroad or highway drawbridges, or horizontally or vertically adjustable bridges.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Automated drawbridge (regulatory class, 33 CFR 117) (US Coast Guard) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Observe position and progress of vessels to ensure best use of lock spaces or bridge opening spaces.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 7% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Inspect canal and bridge equipment, and areas, such as roadbeds, for damage or defects, reporting problems to supervisors as necessary.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, Spot (Boston Dynamics) at Consumers Energy substations (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Log data, such as water levels and weather conditions.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 8 min3 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Record names, types, and destinations of vessels passing through bridge openings or locks, and numbers of trains or vehicles crossing bridges.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 5% | 8 min3 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Turn valves to increase or decrease water levels in locks.Done several times a day by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, VNF automated locks (ecluses automatisees, telecommande unique) (Voies navigables de France) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Raise drawbridges and observe passage of water traffic or lower drawbridges and raise automobile gates.Done several times a day by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Pass Manchac automated bascule drawbridge (CN/Illinois Central), mile 6.7, Manchac, LA (Canadian National / Illinois Central Railroad, authorized under 33 CFR 117.42) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Observe approaching vessels to determine size and speed, and listen for whistle signals indicating desire to pass.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 7 min3 min to 13 min | Stays with people | |
| Attach ropes or cable lines to bitts on lock decks or wharfs to secure vessels.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Hands-Free Mooring (HFM) system (Cavotec MoorMaster-derived), Snell and Eisenhower Locks (Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (US DOT) / SLSMC with Cavotec) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers7% now, 7% by 2028
- Motorboat Operators5% now, 5% by 2028
- Hoist and Winch Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Rail Yard Engineers, Dinkey Operators, and Hostlers12% now, 12% by 2028
- Locomotive Engineers3% now, 3% by 2028
- Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels7% now, 8% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Bridge and Lock Tenders is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 15% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 15% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Bridge and Lock Tenders come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Log data, such as water levels and weather conditions (100% of the task's time now); Record names, types, and destinations of vessels passing through bridge openings or locks, and numbers of trains or vehicles crossing bridges (100% of the task's time now); and Prepare accident reports (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Bridge and Lock Tenders stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Maintain and guard stations in bridges to check waterways for boat traffic; Perform maintenance duties, such as sweeping, painting, and yard work to keep facilities clean and in order; and Direct movements of vessels in locks or bridge areas, using signals, telecommunication equipment, or loudspeakers. Together such tasks are about 85% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Bridge and Lock Tenders?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Bridge and Lock Tenders?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 65% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 65% of the working time, 42% in a structured facility. Its index is 1.08 of 3. One example: Knightscope K5 Autonomous Security Robot for "maintain and guard stations in bridges to check waterways for boat traffic". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 18 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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