Transportation and Material Moving · Holland code RCI

Dredge Operators

Operate dredge to remove sand, gravel, or other materials in order to excavate and maintain navigable channels in waterways.

Also called: Dredge Operator, Dredger.

O*NET 53-7031.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $49,640; Middle half earn $46,430 to $62,070. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 80% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
Active Listening2.9 / 5
Speaking2.9 / 5
Monitoring2.9 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.5 / 5
Active Learning2.5 / 5

Knowledge areas

Mechanical4.1 / 5
English Language3.4 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.2 / 5
Administration and Management3.1 / 5
Production and Processing2.9 / 5
Mathematics2.8 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic94
Investigative33
Artistic0
Social6
Enterprising22
Conventional41

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

dredging supervisor · DE Aufsichtskraft Baggerarbeiten · FR chef de chantier dragage
dredge operator · DE Schwimmbaggerfahrer/Schwimmbaggerfahrerin · FR conducteur de drague/conductrice de drague
excavator operator · DE Baggerführer/Baggerführerin · FR conducteur d’excavatrice/conductrice d’excavatrice

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Construction and building trades supervisors (5330)53,100 employed
Mobile machine drivers and operatives n.e.c. (8229)53,000 employed
Water and sewerage plant operatives (8134)21,000 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Plant and machine operators and assemblers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Plant and machine operators and assemblers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€39,630
Netherlands	€37,567
Austria	€37,304
Sweden	€36,005
Germany	€34,433
Ireland	€32,617
France	€28,550
Italy	€28,330
Spain	€24,409
Portugal	€11,309
Poland	€10,259

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -1.02. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (53-7031).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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