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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 road, or plow snow from roadway.

How does this connect to your interests? →

A look at the work

  • 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.

A selection of source-listed tasks; duties vary by role and employer.

Interests involved in this work

These source scores describe occupational work activities. They are separate from your personal test results.

Hands-on

2026-02 · Machine Learning/Expert

7.0 / 7

Investigative

2026-02 · Machine Learning/Expert

1.7 / 7

Creative

2026-02 · Machine Learning/Expert

1.0 / 7

Helping people

2026-02 · Machine Learning/Expert

1.8 / 7

Enterprising

2026-02 · Machine Learning/Expert

1.5 / 7

Organizing

2026-02 · Machine Learning/Expert

3.5 / 7

Skills to explore

Source-reported importance on a 1–5 scale. Try a course, project or conversation to learn what these skills involve.

Operation and Control

Controlling operations of equipment or systems.

2017-07

3.6 / 5

Operations Monitoring

Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.

2017-07

3.5 / 5

Coordination

Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

2017-07

3.1 / 5

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

2017-07

3.1 / 5

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

2017-07

3.0 / 5

Complex Problem Solving

Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

2017-07

3.0 / 5

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

2017-07

3.0 / 5

Judgment and Decision Making

Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

2017-07

2.9 / 5

Troubleshooting

Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.

2017-07

2.9 / 5

Social Perceptiveness

Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

2017-07

2.9 / 5

Plan a small next step

Talk to someone doing this work, look for a supervised activity, and explore the subjects that interest you. Admission, licensing and current program requirements should be confirmed with the relevant institutions.

Source preparation category: Job Zone 2 of 5 · 2026-02. This category describes typical preparation, not your eligibility.

Related study fields

Source crosswalk connections are research leads, not required qualifications.

Construction/Heavy Equipment/Earthmoving Equipment Operation →

Flagging and Traffic Control →

Explore all related study fields →

Source & methodology

O*NET-SOC code 47-4051.00 · Database 31.0 · Retrieved Oct 14, 2026. Dates on individual observations describe their source periods.

How interest exploration matching works →

Data: O*NET® 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. Used under CC BY 4.0. StudyIndex normalizes the presentation and adds exploration features; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these additions.