Inspect canal and bridge equipment, and areas, such as roadbeds, for damage or defects, reporting problems to supervisors as necessary.

“Inspect canal and bridge equipment, and areas, such as roadbeds, for damage or defects, reporting problems to supervisors as necessary.” is a supplemental task performed by Bridge and Lock Tenders. Among the occupation's 18 rated tasks, workers place it 5th by importance (#14 most important). About 60% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Notify others of emergencies or problems. in Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T1.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Turn valves to increase or decrease water levels in locks. · importance 5.0
• Check that bridges are clear of vehicles and pedestrians prior to opening. · importance 4.9
• Control machinery to open and close canal locks and dams, railroad or highway drawbridges, or horizontally or vertically adjustable bridges. · importance 4.9
• Direct movements of vessels in locks or bridge areas, using signals, telecommunication equipment, or loudspeakers. · importance 4.8
• Observe position and progress of vessels to ensure best use of lock spaces or bridge opening spaces. · importance 4.8
• Stop automobile and pedestrian traffic on bridges, and lower automobile gates prior to moving bridges. · importance 4.8
• Raise drawbridges and observe passage of water traffic or lower drawbridges and raise automobile gates. · importance 4.8
• Maintain and guard stations in bridges to check waterways for boat traffic. · importance 4.8
• Record names, types, and destinations of vessels passing through bridge openings or locks, and numbers of trains or vehicles crossing bridges. · importance 4.7
• Observe approaching vessels to determine size and speed, and listen for whistle signals indicating desire to pass. · importance 4.7
• Move levers to activate traffic signals, navigation lights, and alarms. · importance 4.6
• Clean and lubricate equipment, and make minor repairs and adjustments. · importance 4.6
• Write and submit maintenance work requisitions. · importance 4.4
• Log data, such as water levels and weather conditions. · importance 4.3

See all tasks on the Bridge and Lock Tenders page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-7158,
  title  = {Inspect canal and bridge equipment, and areas, such as roadbeds, for damage or defects, reporting problems to supervisors as necessary.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-7158}
}