I work in this industry, and by your "sit at your computer and let real workers do their thing" comment, I'm assuming you don't.

BGE gas contractors in Baltimore are pretty much the worst I've ever seen.

It doesn't help that Baltimore doesn't have any inspectors requiring proper backfill techniques. Sure, they'll patch the road... after they backfill with the spoil without proper drying or sifting. It'll be a complete surprise to everyone when they don't get good compaction and we end up with rutting for the length of the pipe.