Will highway maintenance workers be replaced by AI?
Updated
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 |
| Blend compounds to form adhesive mixtures used for marker installation. Physical mixing of adhesive compounds; recipe lookup only. | 10% Needs a person |
| Set out signs and cones around work areas to divert traffic. Physical placement of cones and signs at work sites. | 8% Needs a person |
| Paint traffic control lines and place pavement traffic messages, by hand or using machines. Machine or hand painting of lines on pavement. | 8% Needs a person |
| 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. Operating heavy equipment for sweeping, mowing, plowing, salting. | 6% Needs a person |
| Dump, spread, and tamp asphalt, using pneumatic tampers, to repair joints and patch broken pavement. Physical asphalt placement and tamping for pavement patches. | 6% Needs a person |
Show the other 9 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Drive trucks to transport crews and equipment to work sites. Driving crews and equipment on roads, physical operation. | 5% Needs a person |
| Clean and clear debris from culverts, catch basins, drop inlets, ditches, and other drain structures. Physically clearing culverts and drains of debris. | 5% Needs a person |
| Haul and spread sand, gravel, and clay to fill washouts and repair road shoulders. Physically hauling and spreading fill material on shoulders. | 5% Needs a person |
| Remove litter and debris from roadways, including debris from rock and mud slides. Physically picking up litter and debris from roadways. | 5% Needs a person |
| Perform roadside landscaping work, such as clearing weeds and brush, and planting and trimming trees. Physical weeding, brush clearing, and tree planting work. | 5% Needs a person |
| Apply oil to road surfaces, using sprayers. Physical spraying of oil onto road surfaces. | 5% Needs a person |
| Erect, install, or repair guardrails, road shoulders, berms, highway markers, warning signals, and highway lighting, using hand tools and power tools. Installing and repairing guardrails and lighting with hand tools. | 4% Needs a person |
| Flag motorists to warn them of obstacles or repair work ahead. Live physical traffic direction on roadside, needs presence. | 3% Needs a person |
| Place and remove snow fences used to prevent the accumulation of drifting snow on highways. Physical placing and removing of snow fences outdoors. | 3% Needs a person |
How highway maintenance workers compare
All occupations (923)
Construction and extraction (61)
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.
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.
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