Also called: HDD Operator, Directional Bore Operator, Boring Machine Operator
Drills underground paths for fiber, power and water lines beneath roads and rivers without digging a trench.
You sit at a drilling rig on one side of a highway while your locator walks above, tracking the drill head with a radio receiver. You steer it under the road and up on the other side, then pull back the pipe. A broadband boom has made you very busy.
Estimated from BLS operating engineers.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0 years after high school. High school plus on-the-job training; CDL often required.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Certification. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Growing about average (about 4% over 10 years). Operating engineers overall.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Steering and drill rigs are getting automated, but setting up and drilling under roads and rivers stays human-supervised.
Age 18+. One way to start: Apply to directional drilling contractors for crew laborer jobs; operators train up from the crew
Classes: Earth science, Diesel CTE, Geometry.
Official data: O*NET occupation 47-2073.
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.