Operate equipment used for applying concrete, asphalt, or other materials to road beds, parking lots, or airport runways and taxiways, or equipment used for tamping gravel, dirt, or other materials. Includes concrete and asphalt paving machine operators, form tampers, tamping machine operators, and stone spreader operators.
U.S. Workers
45,680
Median Salary
$51,650
10-Year Growth
+3.2%
Annual Openings
4,000
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
20 of 20 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Observe distribution of paving material to adjust machine settings or material flow, and indicate low spots for workers to add material.
AI: Fully automatable - Sensor and vision systems can observe material distribution, adjust machine settings, and flag low spots for correction, and such automation is already deployed in paving equipment.
Light burners or start heating units of machines, and regulate screed temperatures and asphalt flow rates.
AI: Fully automatable - Ignition, heating regulation, and control of screed temperature and asphalt flow are routine control tasks that modern control systems and AI can fully automate and regulate.
Control paving machines to push dump trucks and to maintain a constant flow of asphalt or other material into hoppers or screeds.
AI: Fully automatable - Controlling paving machines to push dump trucks and maintain steady material flow is already supported by automated paver controls and sensor integration, enabling full AI-driven operation in typical scenarios.
Start machine, engage clutch, and push and move levers to guide machine along forms or guidelines and to control the operation of machine attachments.
AI: Fully automatable - Starting engines and controlling levers/attachments are low-level control actions that can be performed by remote-control or autonomous systems already available in construction equipment.
Fill tanks, hoppers, or machines with paving materials.
AI: Fully automatable - Filling tanks, hoppers, and machines is a repetitive material-handling task that can be fully automated with conveyors, sensors, and simple robotics.
Coordinate truck dumping.
AI: Fully automatable - Coordinating truck dumping is primarily an information and control problem that can be automated with sensors, scheduling, and vehicle guidance systems available by 2025.
Operate machines to spread, smooth, level, or steel-reinforce stone, concrete, or asphalt on road beds.
AI: Partial - Autonomous/assisted spreading and smoothing machines exist, but full end-to-end operation including variable site conditions and steel reinforcement placement remains partially reliant on humans.
Control traffic.
AI: Partial - Automated signs, signals, and remote monitoring can partly control traffic, but live traffic control at dynamic work sites still frequently requires human flaggers and oversight for safety and legal reasons.
Inspect, clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using mechanics' hand tools, or report malfunctions to supervisors.
AI: Partial - Inspection and fault reporting can be largely automated with sensors and predictive maintenance, but hands-on cleaning, maintenance, and repairs with hand tools still require human mechanics.
Operate tamping machines or manually roll surfaces to compact earth fills, foundation forms, and finished road materials, according to grade specifications.
AI: Partial - Machine compaction and grade-controlled tamping can be automated, but manual rolling and adaptation to complex site variability mean the task is only partially automatable.
Set up and tear down equipment.
AI: Partial - Setting up and tearing down equipment is heavily physical and site-variable so AI can assist with guidance and limited teleoperation but cannot fully automate the task in most field conditions by 2025.
Drive machines onto truck trailers, and drive trucks to transport machines and material to and from job sites.
AI: Partial - Driving trucks and precisely loading/unloading heavy machines requires complex perception, legal/road constraints, and dexterous maneuvers so partial autonomy and teleoperation exist but full end-to-end automation is not widely reliable.
Operate oil distributors, loaders, chip spreaders, dump trucks, and snow plows.
AI: Partial - Operating a diverse set of machines (oil distributors, loaders, chip spreaders, dump trucks, snow plows) can be partially automated in constrained settings but requires human oversight across varied tasks and environments.
Set up forms and lay out guidelines for curbs, according to written specifications, using string, spray paint, and concrete or water mixes.
AI: Partial - Layout and guideline tasks can be automated for surveying and staking with robotic total stations and GNSS, but physically setting forms and adapting mixes remain largely manual.
Shovel blacktop.
AI: Partial - Shoveling blacktop is a highly manual, unstructured task where mechanization and teleoperation can reduce labor but AI cannot fully replace human adaptability on varied sites by 2025.
Place strips of material, such as cork, asphalt, or steel into joints, or place rolls of expansion-joint material on machines that automatically insert material.
AI: Partial - Automatic insertion machines exist and can be AI-controlled, but field placement of strips or loading rolls onto machines is often manual or semi-automated due to site variability.
Operate machines that clean or cut expansion joints in concrete or asphalt and that rout out cracks in pavement.
AI: Partial - Machines that clean or cut joints and rout cracks can follow automated patterns, yet inconsistent pavement conditions and need for judgment mean humans still intervene in many cases.
Cut or break up pavement and drive guardrail posts, using machines equipped with interchangeable hammers.
AI: Partial - Cutting/breaking pavement and driving guardrail posts with interchangeable hammer-equipped machines has semi-autonomous and teleoperated options, but unpredictable subsurface and impact dynamics prevent full AI automation.
Install dies, cutters, and extensions to screeds onto machines, using hand tools.
AI: Partial - Robots and teleoperation can assist with or perform tool changes in controlled settings, but unstructured, variable field mounting of dies and cutters using hand tools remains difficult to fully automate by 2025.
Drive and operate curbing machines to extrude concrete or asphalt curbing.
AI: Partial - GPS-guided and semi-autonomous curbing/paving systems exist and can follow programmed paths, but reliably operating across varied sites and material behaviors still requires human oversight.