San Francisco-based Bedrock Robotics has deployed autonomous excavators to perform commercial earthwork without an operator in the cab. The company states these deployments follow a year of testing on active job sites with human supervision.

The technology is currently active on major infrastructure projects, including a Nevada water treatment facility with Sundt Construction. In Texas, Bedrock is working with Champion Site Prep on an earthwork project, and with Zachry Construction Corporation on a 1.2 million-cubic-yard civil sitework project focusing on rough earthmoving and foundation prep.

Technology and Productivity

The system, called the Bedrock Operator, is designed as a retrofit for existing heavy equipment. Crews can install the sensor and computing package in one day. The machine-learning system is trained on tens of thousands of hours of field work to understand the surrounding area and plan movement.

A Bedrock spokesperson told CyberGuy that as of August 2026 deployments, the machines are "near human-level productivity." Productivity is measured by the cubic yards of earth moved during a shift.

Safety and Labor

To manage safety, the machines monitor their own progress and can call for help if stuck. If a person or unauthorized object enters the area, the machine automatically stops and remains stationary until the object moves to a safe distance.

Bedrock aims to address worker shortages, noting that 92% of firms with open craft positions struggle to fill jobs. The company also noted that an operator may require five or more years to master the skill. Regarding the workforce, a spokesperson stated:

"We do not expect operators to be replaced at all."

Bedrock envisions experienced operators eventually moving into supervisory roles, described as being a "foreman for machines," while other workers continue to operate equipment manually.