Concluding that "the business no longer represents a strategic growth opportunity," Caterpillar Inc. says it will shut down its tunnel-boring-machine business by mid-2014.
Caterpillar first entered the TBM market in 2008 with its purchase of Toronto-based TBM manufacturer Lovat. The machines have been used in tunneling jobs around the globe, from the Brightwater tunnel in Washington state to extensions of the Shanghai subway system.