Also called: Bridge Safety Inspector, Structures Inspector
Climbs over, under and around bridges checking for cracks, rust and damage.
You dangle from a snooper truck's bucket under a highway bridge, tapping concrete with a hammer to find hollow spots and photographing rusted steel. You rate every part of the bridge and flag anything that needs a repair crew.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 1 year after high school. High school or associate plus FHWA/NHI bridge inspection certification; many team leaders are engineers.
Ways in: Certification, On-the-job training, 2-year college. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Civil Engineering Technology.
Growing about average. Federal rules require every public bridge to be inspected regularly.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Drones and AI image analysis spot cracks faster, so fewer climbing hours; hands-on inspection and condition judgment stay human.
Classes: Physics, Earth science, Drafting, Photography.
Official data: O*NET occupation 47-4011.
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.