Also called: Sandhog, Tunnel Worker
Drives a machine as long as a football field that chews through rock to dig tunnels.
You sit in a control cabin deep underground watching screens for pressure and steering, advancing a few feet an hour while crews behind you bolt concrete rings in place.
Union "sandhog" crews earn top pay.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 5 years after high school. Years on tunnel crews; union tunnel worker apprenticeship.
Ways in: Apprenticeship, On-the-job training. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Tunnel Worker (apprenticeship).
Growing faster than average. Driven by transit and water tunnel projects.
Medium risk for 10 years. Tunnel boring machines are increasingly automated and remotely guided; crews still maintain them and handle ground surprises.
Classes: Construction CTE, Small engines, Algebra.
Official data: O*NET occupation 47-5049.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.