thumb|Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (red)

thumb|The locks and dams (L&D) along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway (popularly known as the Tenn-Tom) is a artificial waterway built in the 20th century from the Tennessee River to the junction of the Black Warrior-Tombigbee River system near Demopolis, Alabama, United States. The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway links commercial navigation from the nation's midsection to the Gulf of Mexico. The major features of the waterway are of navigation channels, a cut between the watersheds of the Tombigbee and Tennessee rivers, and ten locks and dams.

The locks are with a depth of , the same dimension as those on the Mississippi above Lock and Dam 26 at Alton, Illinois.

Under construction for 12 years by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway was completed in December 1984 at a total cost of nearly $2 billion.

The Tenn-Tom encompasses 17 public ports and terminals, of land, and another managed by state conservation agencies for wildlife habitat preservation and recreational use. The Authority is led by 24 individuals: the Governors of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee, plus five gubernatorial appointees from each of those states.

Early history and construction

First proposed in the Colonial period, the idea for a commercial waterway link between the Tennessee and Tombigbee rivers did not receive serious attention until the advent of river steamboat traffic in the early nineteenth century. It stimulated trade throughout the river cities, and the ability to get products to the Gulf Coast for overseas shipping. As steamboat efficiency gains caused water transport costs to decline, in 1875 engineers surveyed a potential canal route for the first time. They issued a negative report, emphasizing that prohibitive cost estimates kept the project from economic feasibility. Also, in the early 1960s it was proposed that the canal could be created by use of atomic blasts.

As part of his "Southern Strategy" for election, Republican President Richard Nixon committed to the project. He included $1 million in the Corps of Engineers' 1971 budget to start construction of the Tenn-Tom. Funding shortages and legal challenges delayed construction until December 1972, but Nixon's efforts initiated official Tenn-Tom waterway construction.

Political challenges

The $2 billion in required funding for the Tenn-Tom waterway was repeatedly attacked by elected representatives and political organizations. Opponents asserted that the estimated economic benefits of the waterway by the Corps of Engineers were unsupportable based on projected traffic volume. By 1977, the Tenn-Tom was one of many such Corps of Engineers projects that had been initiated in the belief that they would directly or indirectly return to the Treasury their cost(s) of construction.

Immediately after his election in 1976, Democratic President Jimmy Carter announced a plan to slash Tenn-Tom federal funding, as part of broader reductions in federal spending. Carter, and the economic advisors recruited to his administration, objected to the "waste" of taxpayer dollars on "pork-barrel projects". Railroad companies, which served as a major transport alternative to river traffic and stood to potentially lose the most value from construction of the waterway, asserted that its construction violated the National Environmental Policy Act. The Tenn-Tom also provides access to over of commercial forests and approximately two-thirds of all recoverable coal reserves in the nation. Industries that use these natural resources have found the waterway to be their most cost-efficient mode of transportation.

Locks and dams

The waterway is composed of ten locks (listed below from north to south along the waterway); many are named after Southern politicians who supported the project:

  • Jamie Whitten Lock and Dam; formerly named Bay Springs Lock and Dam – impounds Bay Springs Lake
  • G. V. Montgomery Lock; formerly named Lock E
  • John Rankin Lock; formerly named Lock D
  • Fulton Lock; located in Fulton, Mississippi, formerly named Lock C
  • Glover Wilkins Lock; located in Smithville, Mississippi, formerly named Lock B
  • Amory Lock; located in Amory, Mississippi, formerly named Lock A
  • Aberdeen Lock and Dam; located in Aberdeen, Mississippi – impounds Aberdeen Lake
  • John C. Stennis Lock and Dam; formerly named Columbus Lock and Dam – impounds Columbus Lake
  • Tom Bevill Lock and Dam; formerly named Aliceville Lock and Dam – impounds Aliceville Lake
  • Howell Heflin Lock and Dam; formerly named Gainesville Lock and Dam – impounds Gainesville Lake

<gallery widths="180px" heights="120px" perrow="3">

Image:Tenn-Tom Divide Cut Construction.jpg|The Divide Cut under construction in the early 1980s

Image:USACE Amory Lock.jpg|Amory Lock at Amory, Mississippi

Image:Tenn-Tom Waterway ICG railroad bridge.jpg|An Illinois Central Railroad (IC) bridge over the waterway at mile 424.8

Image:USACE Divide Cut map large.png|Detailed map of the Divide Cut (Corps of Engineers)

File:Amory Lock 20050910.JPG|Amory Lock

</gallery>

Notes

Further reading

  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
  • Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority
  • Tenn-Tom - A New Waterway For America