Dredge Operators
Operate dredge to remove sand, gravel, or other materials in order to excavate and maintain navigable channels in waterways.
Most important skills
- Operation and Control
- Operations Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Coordination
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- English Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Administration and Management
- Production and Processing
- Mathematics
- Education and Training
- Physics
What the work involves
- Move levers to position dredges for excavation, to engage hydraulic pumps, to raise and lower suction booms, and to control rotation of cutterheads.
- Start and stop engines to operate equipment.
- Start power winches that draw in or let out cables to change positions of dredges, or pull in and let out cables manually.
- Pump water to clear machinery pipelines.
- Lower anchor poles to verify depths of excavations, using winches, or scan depth gauges to determine depths of excavations.
- Direct or assist workers placing shore anchors and cables, laying additional pipes from dredges to shore, and pumping water from pontoons.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (80% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (36.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (40.2%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Dredge Operators is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 60% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 98% of occupations compared | 75% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 77% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 77% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 93% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 70% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 99% of occupations compared | 59% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 60% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 5.37%
- Contact with others about half the time: 6.33%
- Contact with others most of the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Constant contact with others: 42.75%
n = 20, Incumbent 06/2008
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 74.52%
- Fairly important: 13%
- Important: 3.65%
- Very important: 5.36%
- Extremely important: 3.47%
n = 20, Incumbent 06/2008
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 19.35%
- Extremely important: 34.46%
n = 20, Incumbent 06/2008
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 13.35%
- Limited freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Some freedom: 14.21%
- A lot of freedom: 38.51%
n = 19, Incumbent 06/2008
Time pressure
- Never: 11.57%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 14.68%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 47.31%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 13.78%
- Every day: 12.66%
n = 21, Incumbent 06/2008
Conflict situations
- Never: 24.36%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 23.29%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 19.21%
- Every day: 5.26%
n = 21, Incumbent 06/2008
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 59.06%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 27.14%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 10.63%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 2.95%
- Every day: 0.21%
n = 21, Incumbent 06/2008
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 0%
- Fairly serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Serious: 18.52%
- Very serious: 30.37%
- Extremely serious: 13.36%
n = 19, Incumbent 06/2008
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O*NET-SOC 53-7031.00 · SOC 53-7031 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8