# Will highway maintenance workers be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Highway maintenance workers score 8 of 100 for AI exposure. All of their task time still needs a person. - **100%** Needs a person Low exposure Lower than 98% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 19 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can't do any of them end to end yet. It speeds up 0 and leaves 19 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Inspect, clean, and repair drainage systems, bridges, tunnels, and other structures. Physical cleaning and repair; inspection paperwork is AI-assisted. | 15% Needs a person | | Measure and mark locations for installation of markers, using tape, string, or chalk. Physical marking on site; plan lookup could be AI-assisted. | 15% Needs a person | | Inspect markers to verify accurate installation. On-site visual check of marker placement; logging could be assisted. | 15% Needs a person | | Perform preventative maintenance on vehicles and heavy equipment. Hands-on mechanical work; AI only helps with maintenance records. | 10% Needs a person | | Apply poisons along roadsides and in animal burrows to eliminate unwanted roadside vegetation and rodents. Physical herbicide and rodent poison application; AI helps with planning. | 10% Needs a person | ## How highway maintenance workers compare All occupations (923) Construction and extraction (61) **Highway maintenance workers score 8**, marked by the dark line. Each dot is a score, darker where more occupations share it. The short marks show the averages, 37 for all occupations and 15 for construction and extraction. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $50,260 a year, May 2025 People employed 154,960 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +3.4% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Patch broken pavement and eroded shoulders manually - Log culvert and drainage findings in Microsoft Excel - Write inspection summaries in Microsoft Word for supervisors - Hold a Commercial Driver License for crew and equipment trucks - Perform preventative maintenance on heavy equipment in the field - Set work zone traffic control to state standards ## Safer roles nearby A related occupation with a lower score. - [Railroad track workers7 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/railroad-track-workers/) ## Questions about highway maintenance workers and AI Will AI replace highway maintenance workers? Partly. About 1 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly drainage and bridge inspection paperwork and marker plan lookup. Physical repair, marking, flagging traffic, and hauling fill stay with crews on the roadside. Which highway maintenance tasks is AI taking over? AI takes over the paperwork around inspection and layout. Inspection records for drainage systems, bridges, and tunnels carry an exposure score of 15, as do marker placement checks and plan lookups. Software can draft these records and read plans, so the crew's time shifts toward the site visit itself. Which highway maintenance tasks stay with people? Flagging motorists, placing snow fences, and installing guardrails stay with people, each scoring 3 or 4 on exposure. These jobs need a worker on the shoulder, lifting posts, and reading wind and traffic in real time. Software has no body on the roadside, so these tasks stay with crews. How can highway maintenance workers stay valuable as AI spreads? Stay valuable by keeping the hands-on work and the records that prove it. Log culvert and patch findings in Microsoft Excel so supervisors can check them quickly. Hold a Commercial Driver License for crew trucks, and become the person who runs preventative maintenance on heavy equipment in the field. ## Related jobs - [Heavy equipment operators15 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/heavy-equipment-operators/) - [Construction workers13 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/construction-laborers/) - [Maintenance workers21 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/maintenance-workers/) - [Forklift operators10 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/forklift-operators/) ## Next steps for highway maintenance workers - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your actual tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV and see which of your tasks AI can do. [Check your job](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-exposure-checker/) [Check your CV](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/cv-checker/) ### Check which roles in your team AI can take on We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) ## Related topics - [**Jobs AI can't replace**Cement masons score lowest, at 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-cant-replace/) - [**Jobs most at risk from AI**Proofreaders score highest, at 76.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-most-exposed-to-ai/) - [**High-paying jobs with low AI exposure**Radiologists earn a median $420,860 and score 46.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Cement masons need little prior training and score 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**For natural sciences managers, AI speeds up 96% of task time.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-speeds-up/) - [**AI and jobs in Malta**15 iGaming roles graded task by task.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/malta/) - [**Skills that keep work human**The skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/skills/) - [**Jobs A to Z**Every job we publish, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 occupation groups.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industries/) - [**Write a CV screening software can read**How applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cv-screening-guide/) - [**AI for businesses**The tasks to automate first in each team and industry.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/) - [**How we score AI exposure**The grading, the weights and every source.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/) Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.