Highway maintenance workers 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 the road, or plow snow from roadway.

  • 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.
  • Apply poisons along roadsides and in animal burrows to eliminate unwanted roadside vegetation and rodents.
  • Measure and mark locations for installation of markers, using tape, string, or chalk.
  • Paint traffic control lines and place pavement traffic messages, by hand or using machines.
  • Apply oil to road surfaces, using sprayers.
  • Inspect markers to verify accurate installation.
  • Place and remove snow fences used to prevent the accumulation of drifting snow on highways.
  • Blend compounds to form adhesive mixtures used for marker installation.
Work Context

Work Context information for this career will be available soon.

Work Activities
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
  • Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
  • Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Material — Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
  • Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment — Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or water craft.
  • Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
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Detailed Work Activities
  • Maintain mechanical equipment.
  • Operate equipment or vehicles to clear construction sites or move materials.
  • Direct vehicle traffic.
  • Direct vehicle traffic.
  • Pour materials into or on designated areas.
  • Compact materials to create level bases.
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Knowledge

Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
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Skills

Operation and Control
  • Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Operation Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Monitoring
  • Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Coordination
  • Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
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Abilities

Control Precision
  • The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Multilimb Coordination
  • The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Static Strength
  • The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Oral Comprehension
  • The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
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Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Persistence
  • Initiative
  • Leadership
  • Cooperation
  • Concern for Others
  • Social Orientation
  • Self Control
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Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Spreadsheet software
  • Microsoft Excel Hot Technology
  • Spreadsheet software
Office suite software
  • Microsoft Office Hot Technology
Electronic mail software
  • Microsoft Outlook Hot Technology
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