Highway Maintenance Workers
Overview
Highway maintenance workers keep our roads, highways, and airport runways safe and smooth for everyone to use. They operate heavy machinery like snowplows and street sweepers, patch potholes, repair guardrails, and clear debris from roadways. These workers collaborate in teams to set up traffic control zones and perform preventative maintenance on equipment. The job requires physical stamina, mechanical skills, and often involves working outdoors in various weather conditions.
Did you know?
Road maintenance technicians face significant safety risks working near traffic and operating heavy equipment, requiring strict adherence to OSHA safety protocols and physical fitness.
At a Glance
Median Wage
$49,379.18 Avg/yr
Growth
Stable
Top Skill
Equipment Selection
Key Responsibilities
- Erect, install, or repair guardrails, road shoulders, berms, highway markers, warning signals, and highway lighting, using hand tools and power tools.
- Remove litter and debris from roadways, including debris from rock and mud slides.
- Flag motorists to warn them of obstacles or repair work ahead.
- Drive trucks to transport crews and equipment to work sites.
- Apply oil to road surfaces, using sprayers.
- Inspect markers to verify accurate installation.
- Set out signs and cones around work areas to divert traffic.
- Blend compounds to form adhesive mixtures used for marker installation.
- Clean and clear debris from culverts, catch basins, drop inlets, ditches, and other drain structures.
- Inspect, clean, and repair drainage systems, bridges, tunnels, and other structures.
- Perform preventative maintenance on vehicles and heavy equipment.
- Apply poisons along roadsides and in animal burrows to eliminate unwanted roadside vegetation and rodents.
- 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.
- Dump, spread, and tamp asphalt, using pneumatic tampers, to repair joints and patch broken pavement.
- Place and remove snow fences used to prevent the accumulation of drifting snow on highways.
- Perform roadside landscaping work, such as clearing weeds and brush, and planting and trimming trees.
- Paint traffic control lines and place pavement traffic messages, by hand or using machines.
- Measure and mark locations for installation of markers, using tape, string, or chalk.
- Haul and spread sand, gravel, and clay to fill washouts and repair road shoulders.
Career Considerations
Safety and Physical Demands
Road maintenance technicians face significant safety risks working near traffic and operating heavy equipment, requiring strict adherence to OSHA safety protocols and physical fitness.
Government Employment Benefits
Most positions are with state or local government agencies, offering job security, comprehensive health benefits, and pension plans typical of public sector employment.
Seasonal Work Variations
Work demands fluctuate significantly with weather patterns, particularly in northern states where winter snow removal and spring pothole repair create peak activity periods.