Obituary: Tim Coss, Microtunneling Industry Icon

Tim Coss, president of Microtunneling Inc. in Boulder, Colorado, passed away Aug. 7. Coss was a leading figure in the development and advancement of microtunneling in North America for more than three decades.

A New Jersey native, Coss served in the U.S. Air Force from 1965-73, rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant. Coss got his start in the microtunneling industry while working for E.E. Cruz & Co. from 1985 to 1992, a period in which microtunneling was just beginning to emerge in the North American market. In 1989, he was involved in the company’s pioneering Hylan Boulevard project on Staten Island, New York.

The project included nearly 6,000 ft of microtunneling, with individual drives of 1,625, 1,450, 1,325 and 1,250 ft. The 1,625-ft drive established what was then a U.S. record for a single microtunneling drive – a mark that lasted for two decades and remains an important milestone in the development of the technology in the United States.

After moving to Boulder, Colorado in 1992, Coss founded Microtunneling Inc., a company focused on providing specialized equipment and consulting services to the developing microtunneling market.

Educating the Industry

Education was another defining part of Coss’ career. In 1993, he joined with Levent Ozdemir, then a professor at Colorado School of Mines, and Bernie Krzys, founder of Trenchless Technology magazine, to establish the Microtunneling Short Course. The course was created to provide a forum for education and information sharing in a young and rapidly developing industry. The inaugural course was held in 1994, and the event has become the leading educational gathering for microtunneling professionals, attracting thousands of participants from around the world.

Reflecting on the formation of the course in an article for Trenchless Technology, Coss wrote: “Information was not as available as it is today by just going to Google. There had to be a way of promoting what I did and the industry I worked in. People needed to see this clever way of installing pipe in horrible ground conditions.”

Coss also played a role in the formation of the North American Microtunneling Association and served as its first executive director. The mission of NAMA is to advocate for greater contractor participation in developing industry specifications and best practices.

“At the time I saw a fragmented industry that was really being driven by the owners and engineers,” Coss said in a Trenchless Technology article on the formation of the association. “The contractors really needed to have more of a say in what was happening in the industry, especially with regards to specifications and what was practical in terms of construction. I think the formation of NAMA has given contractors more of a voice in the industry.”

His career reflects the evolution of microtunneling itself—from an emerging construction method to an established technology used on complex utility and infrastructure projects worldwide.

“The microtunneling industry has come a long way,” Coss said in Trenchless Technology in 2012. “The ability of contractors today has exceeded what one couldn’t have imagined some years ago.”

Coss is survived by his wife, Linda, children Tim Jr. and Jennifer, and three grandchildren.

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