Also called: Underground Surveyor, TBM Guidance Surveyor
Guides giant tunnel boring machines underground so two tunnels dug miles apart meet within an inch.
Deep below a city, you set survey points on the tunnel wall and check the laser guidance system steering the boring machine. Every shift you compare where it is to where it should be and tell the operator how to correct.
Estimated; tunnel projects pay premiums and overtime.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in surveying or civil engineering, or survey experience.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Surveying / Geomatics, Civil Engineering.
Growing faster than average. Transit, water and utility tunnels are growing.
Low risk for 10 years. Guidance systems already automate steering data; checking them underground stays human.
Classes: Trigonometry, Physics, Geometry.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-1022.
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.