Highway Maintenance Workers

What the job really is

Maintain highways, municipal and rural roads, airport runways, and rights-of-way. Duties include patching broken or eroded pavement and repairing guard rails, highway markers, and snow fences. May also mow or clear brush from along road, or plow snow from roadway.

At a glance

• Sector: Construction & Extraction
• O*NET-SOC code: 47-4051
• O*NET job zone: 2 — some preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Set out signs and cones around work areas to divert traffic.
• Flag motorists to warn them of obstacles or repair work ahead.
• Perform preventative maintenance on vehicles and heavy equipment.
• Drive trucks to transport crews and equipment to work sites.
• Erect, install, or repair guardrails, road shoulders, berms, highway markers, warning signals, and highway lighting, using hand tools and power tools.
• Clean and clear debris from culverts, catch basins, drop inlets, ditches, and other drain structures.
• Drive heavy equipment and vehicles with adjustable attachments to sweep debris from paved surfaces, mow grass and weeds, remove snow and ice, and spread salt and sand.
• Haul and spread sand, gravel, and clay to fill washouts and repair road shoulders.
• Inspect, clean, and repair drainage systems, bridges, tunnels, and other structures.
• Remove litter and debris from roadways, including debris from rock and mud slides.
• Dump, spread, and tamp asphalt, using pneumatic tampers, to repair joints and patch broken pavement.
• Perform roadside landscaping work, such as clearing weeds and brush, and planting and trimming trees.

Tools and technology

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, 10-ton crawlers, 10-ton tandem-axle dump trucks, 13000-23000 pound graders, 30-ton clam buckets, 4-6 ton roller patchers, 8-ton dump trucks, Adjustable widemouth pliers

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
• Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
• Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators
• Pile Driver Operators
• Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners
• Construction Laborers
• Maintenance and Repair Workers, General
• Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 2 (some preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

Browse the verified job sources directory, or explore more occupations.

Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Highway Maintenance Workers — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.