The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway (popularly known as the Tenn-Tom) is a 234-mile (377-kilometer) man-made, artificial waterway that extends from the Tennessee River to the junction of the Black Warrior-Tombigbee River system near Demopolis, Alabama, United States. The Tenneessee-Tombigbee Waterway links commercial navigation from the nation’s midsection to the Gulf of Mexico. The major features of the waterway are 10 locks and dams, a 175-foot (53 m) deep canal connecting the Tombigbee River watershed with the Tennessee River, and 234 miles (377 km) of navigation channels.[1] Under construction for twelve 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.[2]
The Tenn-Tom encompasses 17 public ports and terminals, 110,000 acres (450 km2) of land, and another 88,000 acres (360 km2) managed by state conservation agencies for wildlife habitat preservation and recreational use.[3]
Although supported by southern Congressmen, the Tenn-Tom Waterway was widely criticized at its creation as an example of exorbitant spending.
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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 steamboat traffic in the early nineteenth century. As steamboat efficiency gains caused water transport costs to decline, in 1875, for the first time, engineers surveyed a potential canal route.[4] However, they issued a negative report at that point in time, emphasizing that prohibitive cost estimates still prevented the project from economic feasibility.[5]
Enthusiasm for the project languished until the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The development of the Tennessee River by TVA, especially the construction of the Pickwick Lock and Dam in 1938, helped decrease Tenn-Tom's potential economic costs and increase its potential benefits.[6] Additionally, political candidates began to favor the construction of the waterway for political reasons, that is, in order to appeal to the voters in the South, rather than for economic reasons. As part of his "Southern Strategy" for reelection, President Nixon included $1 million in the Corps of Engineers' 1971 budget to start construction of the Tenn-Tom.[7] Funding shortages and legal challenges delayed construction until December 1972, but President Nixon’s efforts nevertheless initiated official Tenn-Tom waterway construction.[8]
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began work on the project in 1972. During the construction process, land excavation reached about 175 feet (53 m) in depth. The Tenn-Tom is the largest earth-moving project in world history, requiring the excavation of nearly 310 million cubic yards of soil.[9] (This is the equivalent of more than 100-million dump truck loads and more dirt than required in the Panama Canal.) The project was completed on December 12, 1984, nearly two years ahead of schedule.[10]
The $2 billion in necessary 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. Immediately after his election, President Jimmy Carter announced a plan to slash Tenn-Tom federal funding.[11] However, over 6,500 waterway supporters attended a public hearing held in Columbus, Mississippi as part of Carter's review of the waterway.[12] This overwhelming outpouring of public support for the project led to the President withdrawing his opposition.
Additionally, a series of lawsuits were filed by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad to halt construction of the waterway.[13] Railroad companies, who served as a major transport alternative and stood to potentially lose the most value from its creation, asserted that the waterway construction violated the National Environmental Policy Act.[14] Nevertheless, federal courts ruled in favor of the project.[15]
When completed, the Tenn-Tom waterway’s total cost, including non-federal costs, was $1.992 billion. Given these staggering costs, before the project was completed, some political and economic commentators derided the Tenn-Tom waterway as "pork-barrel politics at its worst.” [16]
For the first few years after its creation, these criticisms appeared somewhat prudent. The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway opened two years ahead of schedule in the midst of an economic recession in the barge business—a factor that initially resulted in a disappointingly low use of the waterway. [17]
However, the 1988 drought closed the Mississippi River, shifting traffic to the Tenn-Tom canal. [18] This coincided with an economic turnaround on the Tennessee-Tombigbee corridor, wherein trade tonnage and commercial investment have increased steadily in the past several years.
Today, the two primary commodities shipped via the Tenn-Tom are coal and timber products, together comprising about 70 percent of total commercial shipping on the waterway.[19] The Tenn-Tom also provides access to over 34 million acres (140,000 km2) of commercial forests and approximately two-thirds of all recoverable coal reserves in the nation. Industries that utilize these natural resources have found the Waterway to be their most cost-efficient mode of transportation.[20] Other popular Tenn-Tom trade products include grain, gravel, sand, and iron.
According to a 2009 Troy University study, since 1996, the United States has realized a direct, indirect, and induced economic impact of nearly $43 billion due to the existence and usage of the Tenn-Tom Waterway and it has directly created more than 29,000 jobs.[21] Without the Waterway as a viable source of transportation, an average of 284,000 additional truckloads per year would be required to handle the materials currently being shipped.[22]
Given that the Tenn-Tom Waterway has an estimated lifetime of well over 50 years[23], the Waterway is expected to play a significant role in southern interstate trade for years to come.
The Divide Cut is a 29-mile (47-kilometer) artificial canal that makes the connection to the Tennessee River. It connects Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee to Bay Springs Lake at Mississippi Highway 30.
It is a popular location for boaters on Pickwick Lake to waterski and wakeboard.
The waterway is composed of ten locks (listed below from north to south along the waterway):