Description
Operate dredge to remove sand, gravel, or other materials in order to excavate and maintain navigable channels in waterways.
- • 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.
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Related Pathways
Advanced Manufacturing
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
