Also called: Pile Testing Engineer, PDA Engineer
Tests the giant piles and drilled shafts hammered deep into the ground to prove they can hold up bridges and towers.
You bolt sensors onto a steel pile as a crane-sized hammer drives it into the ground, watching each blow's force on your laptop. By the end of the day you tell the contractor whether the pile can carry its load or needs to go deeper. Other days you lower probes into concrete shafts to look for hidden flaws.
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 civil engineering; PE license expected later.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Civil Engineering, Geological Engineering.
Growing faster than average. Infrastructure spending and big bridge and wind projects.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Software already analyzes signals; the field setup, judgment and stamped reports stay human.
Classes: Physics, AP Calculus, Earth science, Engineering CTE.
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.