Ziven Drake has always been a tomboy.

As a former US Air Force mechanic and a current member of the Pile Drivers Local 56 Union, the 36-year-old Dorchester transplant from Woodstock, Vermont, is used to being in environments that are male-dominated.

“When I was growing up there was no such thing as all-girl sports teams,” she said. “I grew up playing ice hockey and specifically, there was no women’s hockey, so I’ve always just kind of played with the dudes.”

Drake has often been the sole woman in her fields of activity, but that hasn’t held her back; in fact, she was recently named Trades Woman of the Year by the Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts in recognition of her excellent work as a commercial diver with Local 56.

While she says she has always loved being in the water, her career as a diver, which entails often dangerous underwater work like drilling, welding, and rigging, didn’t begin until a few years ago.

Drake on the job.

After graduating from the University of Vermont with degrees in anthropology and sociology, Drake spent five years in the healthcare field before realizing the work wasn’t satisfying. So, she changed course and spent several years with the Air Force as an F-16 crew chief, repairing and maintaining fighter jets.

Then, as has been the case with many decisions in her life, she made a move to commercial diving four years ago on “a calculated whim. I was actually watching an episode of “Dirty Jobs” with Mike Rowe, and he was talking about the trades and how there’s just an insane gap in terms of the number of jobs and the number of available people. So, I said ‘Hey, let’s give it a shot.’ I found commercial diving and here we are.”

Working in less than ideal conditions, divers have to possess a certain level of discipline, patience, and a “get the job done” attitude — all skills Drake says she honed during her time with the military.

“As a commercial diver, any type of construction that is done in the dry is done in the wet also,” she explained. “Concrete, drilling, welding, burning. Nothing is meant to be done underwater, so there’s a lot of problem solving that goes into it.”

That type of troubleshooting is based on self-reliance. When you’re underwater in a diving suit, breathing surface-supplied air through a hose, there is no outside help. You have to be, as Drake puts it, “on your toes.” Often, in murky canals and riverbeds, she works blind.

“It’s extremely tactile; you can’t see anything,” said Drake. “With inland diving, you’re lucky if you can see your hand in front of your face, so it’s very much done by feel.”

Drake, left, and Jason Cress in dive school.

At just over five-feet-tall, Drake can squeeze into small spaces and maneuver in situations that might be prohibitive for her larger male counterparts. But even in the office, she believes her unique perspective and skillset help her do her job “just as well as a man, if not better.”

Drake is used to sitting quietly at a conference table while a dozen men try to talk over each other. In such a setting, a female approach can work better, she argued. “Men tend to want to showcase what they know whereas women tend more to sit back and observe and absorb,” she said. “We listen, and we tend to have smaller egos, or we’re able to check them at the door a little bit more easily...we’re really valuable pieces of the team.”

Drake’s supervisor, Local 56 Union Chief Dave Borrus, noted that her value is tied to her versatility, describing her as “a jack of all trades.” But her leadership skills also set her apart, he said.

“If you think about how all this happens it’s sort of an orchestra. And if you think of the construction workers as the musicians, and the supervisor as a conductor, they’re really the one that makes sure the symphony can happen,” said Borrus. “So [Drake] plays a critical role in the administration of the work and the success of the project.”

Currently, Drake is playing a vital role in one of the city’s biggest undertakings: replacing the North Washington Street bridge, a project she calls “her baby.”

The five-year project, which is now in the demolition phase, will overhaul the 100-year-old bridge while constructing a temporary span beside it to maintain an active roadway. Drake spearheaded the bidding for the project, just one of her many administrative duties as an assistant superintendent at JF White Contracting, where she works on the estimating, planning, and engineering side of things.

Projects like the North Washington Street bridge replacement will become increasingly common as infrastructure continues to age, reasoned Borrus, and they will need an influx of tradesmen and tradeswomen to make things happen. As he put it, “We don’t have enough people to do the trades.”

The trades gap that Drake heard about still exists — and it’s growing. “There’s a demographic issue going on,” said Borrus. “We have a ton of boomers retiring with all their knowledge, and we have a bunch of 20 and 30-somethings coming into the trades who are built for it but don’t have experience yet. So, there’s this knowledge gap that we’re trying to make up.”

In addition to the Boston building boom, Borrus pointed to impending environmental concerns that will require infrastructure growth, perhaps in the form of offshore wind farms or mitigating measures for rising sea levels. Both would depend heavily on the field of marine construction, where tradesmen like divers and pile drivers play crucial roles.

“We want people from Dorchester to know this is an opportunity, and that people can do what Ziven’s doing,” he said.

While the trades remain a majority-male field, Drake acknowledged that construction in general is becoming more inclusive. She encouraged young people who might not excel in traditional academic settings to pursue a trade, noting that many, like her, thrive in a hands-on environment.

“College isn’t for everybody,” she said. “I went to college and it was fine for me, but it’s certainly not the end all be all. And trades are a way for you to get your hands dirty, to learn an actual practical skill and practical knowledge.”

In her current position, Drake spends a lot of time training apprentices in carpentry, diving, and pile driving. For her, one of the best parts of her job is inspiring young people to embark on an alternative career path.

“It’s a really dynamic industry and a lot of people don’t know that,” she said. “It’s stigmatized still; it’s kind of looked down on as you’re uneducated, whereas I actually know a lot of really, really smart people in the trades. And it’s just a great way to earn an honest living.

“I make more money in the trades than a lot of my friends who are PAs or nurses or whatever. Like anything, the trades aren’t for everyone, but if it’s for you, it’s really rewarding. I’m proud to do it.”