National
| Median wages (2008) |
$16.00 hourly, $33,270 annual |
| Employment (2006) |
64,000 employees |
| Projected growth (2006-2016) |
Average (7% to 13%)
|
| Projected need (2006-2016) |
19,000 additional employees |
47-2071.00 - Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
Operate equipment used for applying concrete, asphalt, or other materials to road beds, parking lots, or airport runways and taxiways, or equipment used for tamping gravel, dirt, or other materials. Includes concrete and asphalt paving machine operators, form tampers, tamping machine operators, and stone spreader operators.
Sample of reported job titles:
Equipment Operator (EO), Truck Driver, Screed Operator, Heavy Equipment Operator, Roller Operator, Asphalt Roller Operator, Paver Operator, Concrete Finisher, Asphalt Paving Machine Operator, Loader Operator
Tasks
- Start machine, engage clutch, and push and move levers to guide machine along forms or guidelines and to control the operation of machine attachments.
- Inspect, clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using mechanics' hand tools, or report malfunctions to supervisors.
- Operate machines to spread, smooth, level, or steel-reinforce stone, concrete, or asphalt on road beds.
- Operate oil distributors, loaders, chip spreaders, dump trucks, and snow plows.
- Coordinate truck dumping.
- Set up and tear down equipment.
- Operate tamping machines or manually roll surfaces to compact earth fills, foundation forms, and finished road materials, according to grade specifications.
- Shovel blacktop.
- Drive machines onto truck trailers, and drive trucks to transport machines and material to and from job sites.
- Observe distribution of paving material to adjust machine settings or material flow, and indicate low spots for workers to add material.
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Tools & Technology
Tools used in this occupation:
| Asphalt finishers — Paving finishing machines; Power extendable screeds |
| Bituminous material distributors — Asphalt distributor trucks; Liquid asphalt storage equipment; Oil distributors |
| Cold planers — Cold in-place recyclers |
| Paving material mixers — Asphalt mixing equipment; Hot mix material transfer devices; Self-propelled material transfer devices; Windrow pickup machines |
| Road pavers — Automatic paving control systems; Robotic paving machines; Rubber-tired asphalt pavers; Rubber-track asphalt pavers |
| Rollers — Manual rollers; Pneumatic rollers; Static rollers; Vibratory rollers |
Technology used in this occupation:
| Electronic mail software — Email software |
| Spreadsheet software |
| Time accounting software — Time report software |
| Word processing software |
