Bridge and Lock Tender Operate and tend bridges, canal locks, and lighthouses to permit marine passage on inland waterways, near shores, and at danger points in waterway passages. May supervise such operations. Includes drawbridge operators, lock operators, and slip bridge operators.
Bridge and Lock Tender is Also Know as
In different settings, Bridge and Lock Tender is titled as
- Bridge Operator
- Bridge Tender
- Lock Tender
Education and Training of Bridge and Lock Tender
Bridge and Lock Tender is categorized in Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Bridge and Lock Tender
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Education Required for Bridge and Lock Tender
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Degrees Related to Bridge and Lock Tender
Training Required for Bridge and Lock Tender
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Bridge and Lock Tender in different industries are
- Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers
- Hoist and Winch Operators
- Rail Yard Engineers, Dinkey Operators, and Hostlers
- Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels
- Locomotive Engineers
- Crane and Tower Operators
- Sailors and Marine Oilers
- Ship Engineers
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
- Dredge Operators
- Highway Maintenance Workers
- Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters
- Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders
- Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
- Riggers
- Locksmiths and Safe Repairers
- Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
- Transportation Vehicle, Equipment and Systems Inspectors, Except Aviation
- Signal and Track Switch Repairers
What Do Bridge and Lock Tender do?
- Move levers to activate traffic signals, navigation lights, and alarms.
- Record names, types, and destinations of vessels passing through bridge openings or locks, and numbers of trains or vehicles crossing bridges.
- Control machinery to open and close canal locks and dams, railroad or highway drawbridges, or horizontally or vertically adjustable bridges.
- Direct movements of vessels in locks or bridge areas, using signals, telecommunication equipment, or loudspeakers.
- Prepare accident reports.
- Observe approaching vessels to determine size and speed, and listen for whistle signals indicating desire to pass.
- Observe position and progress of vessels to ensure best use of lock spaces or bridge opening spaces.
- Maintain and guard stations in bridges to check waterways for boat traffic.
- Inspect canal and bridge equipment, and areas, such as roadbeds, for damage or defects, reporting problems to supervisors as necessary.
- Clean and lubricate equipment, and make minor repairs and adjustments.
- Log data, such as water levels and weather conditions.
- Write and submit maintenance work requisitions.
- Perform maintenance duties, such as sweeping, painting, and yard work to keep facilities clean and in order.
- Check that bridges are clear of vehicles and pedestrians prior to opening.
- Turn valves to increase or decrease water levels in locks.
- Stop automobile and pedestrian traffic on bridges, and lower automobile gates prior to moving bridges.
- Raise drawbridges and observe passage of water traffic or lower drawbridges and raise automobile gates.
- Attach ropes or cable lines to bitts on lock decks or wharfs to secure vessels.
Qualities of Good Bridge and Lock Tender
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Tools Used by Bridge and Lock Tender
- Adjustable wrenches
- Balance weights
- Bitts
- Bridge traffic signals
- Cable lines
- Closed circuit television CCTV monitoring systems
- Desktop computers
- Electric drawbridges
- Fall protection equipment
- Gas detectors
- Gas powered generators
- Gas powered snow blowers
- Grease dispensing guns
- Hand trucks
- Hard hats
- Hearing protectors
- Intrusion alarms
- Laser facsimile machines
- Lawn mowers
- Life jackets
- Loudspeaker warning system
- Megaphones
- Mobile radios
- Motor vehicles
- Navigation lights
- Protective glasses
- Putty knives
- Radar systems
- Safety gloves
- Safety-toe boots
- Signal bells
- Signal flags
- Signal flares
- Smoke detectors
- Snow plows
- Span lights
- Spot lights
- Step ladders
- Sump pumps
- Surveillance binoculars
- Television monitors
- Traffic directional cones
- Traffic gates
- Very high frequency VHF radiotelephones
- Warning horns
- Warning sirens
- Weather monitoring instruments
- Wire cutting tools
- Wire ropes
- X ray scanners
Technology Skills required for Bridge and Lock Tender
- Email software
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft Word
- Oracle PeopleSoft
- SAP software
- Virtual private networking VPN software
- Word processing software