Obituary — Tom Bowman
April 2, 2014

By getting his start in the machinist trade and then parlaying it into everything from race car design to military fabrication, Bowman’s natural-born talent for design and fabrication was honed to a fine art. With this talent and love of all things mechanical, he came to the underground industry, making his mark in the lateral market.
Improving upon the existing lateral reinstatement cutters on the market, in 1990, he introduced the Bowman 615 cutter. Besides his designing prowess, he also brought to the industry a strong sense of customer service. He could be assisting on jobsites, having phone conferences, providing free training, and doing anything else, including special-construction designs, that would help the customer meet their goals.
Also with a never-ending drive for improvement and a design mindset of “think outside of the box,” he revolutionized cutter design. In 2005, the patented, eight moving part cutter, known as the Bowman Dominator 4-30, was introduced to the trenchless industry. Within a short time, the cutter became synonymous with efficiency and user-friendliness.
Bowman’s motto was always to be the best at what you do. Hence, he solely focused on the cutter niche of the industry, earning him the well-deserved title, “The Cutter Guy.” With his newest patent for electric motor design just being granted in November 2013, he was continuing on his path of advancing cutter technology.
Bowman will always be remembered by the trenchless industry as a man of unwavering dedication and selfless support.
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