TheTennessee–Tombigbee Waterway (popularly known as theTenn-Tom) is a 234-mile (377 km) artificialwaterway built in the 20th century from theTennessee River to the junction of theBlack Warrior-Tombigbee River system nearDemopolis, Alabama, United States. The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway links commercial navigation from the nation's midsection to theGulf of Mexico. The major features of the waterway are 234 miles (377 km) of navigation channels, a 175-foot-deep (53 m) cut between the watersheds of the Tombigbee and Tennessee rivers, and tenlocks and dams.[1] The locks are 9 by 110 by 600 feet (2.7 m × 33.5 m × 182.9 m), the same dimension as those on theMississippi above Lock and Dam 26 atAlton, Illinois.[2][3]Under construction for 12 years by theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway was completed in December 1984 at a total cost of nearly $2 billion.[4]
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 wildlifehabitat preservation and recreational use.[4]
The Tenn-Tom's Development Authority is located inColumbus, Mississippi.[5] The Authority is led by 24 individuals: the Governors ofAlabama,Kentucky,Mississippi, andTennessee, plus five gubernatorial appointees from each of those states.[6]
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 riversteamboat 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 causedwater transport costs to decline, in 1875 engineers surveyed a potential canal route for the first time.[7] They issued a negative report, emphasizing that prohibitive cost estimates kept the project from economic feasibility.[7]
Enthusiasm for the project languished until the presidency ofFranklin D. Roosevelt, who took office during theGreat Depression and quickly conceived of investment in major infrastructure projects to put many of the unemployed to work. The development of the Tennessee River by theTVA, especially the construction of thePickwick Lock and Dam in 1938, helped decrease the Tenn-Tom's potential economic costs and increase its potential benefits. Pickwick Lake's design included an embayment on its south shore at Yellow Creek, which would permit the design and construction of an entrance to a future southward waterway (leading to the Tombigbee River), should it be decided that such a waterway would be built in the future.
Later, construction (under World War II emergency authorization) ofKentucky Dam atGilbertsville, Kentucky, near the mouth of the Tennessee River's confluence with theOhio River, would complete the "northern" half of the future waterway.[7] As early as 1941 the proposal was combined with those for other waterways, such as theSt. Lawrence Seaway, with the aim of building broader political support.[8] Also, in the early 1960s it was proposed that the canal could be created by use of atomic blasts.[9]
As part of his "Southern Strategy" for election, RepublicanPresident Richard Nixon committed to the project. He included $1 million in the Corps of Engineers' 1971 budget to start construction of the Tenn-Tom.[10] Funding shortages and legal challenges delayed construction until December 1972, but Nixon's efforts initiated official Tenn-Tom waterway construction.[10]
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 and required the excavation of nearly 310 million cubic yards of soil (the equivalent of more than 100 million dump truck loads). The project was completed on December 12, 1984, nearly two years ahead of schedule.[11]
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 PresidentJimmy 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".[10] But, after more than 6,500 waterway supporters attended a public hearing held inColumbus, Mississippi, as part of Carter's review of the proposed waterway, the President withdrew his opposition.[10]
TheLouisville and Nashville Railroad filed a series of lawsuits to halt construction of the waterway.[12] 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 theNational Environmental Policy Act.[12] Federal courts ruled in favor of the project.[12]
When completed, the Tenn-Tom waterway's total cost was $1.992 billion, including non-federal costs. Some political and economic commentators derided the project as "pork-barrel politics at its worst".[7] For the first few years after its completion, such criticism appeared valid. The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway had opened in the midst of an economicrecession in the barge business, which resulted in initially disappointingly low use of the waterway.[12]
The1988 drought, however, closed theMississippi River and shifted traffic to the Tenn-Tom canal.[10] This coincided with an economic turnaround on the Tennessee-Tombigbee corridor, wherein trade tonnage and commercial investment increased steadily over several years.
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.[13] 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 use these natural resources have found the waterway to be their most cost-efficient mode of transportation.[13] Other popular trade products carried on the Tenn-Tom include grain, gravel, sand, and iron.
A 2009 study byTroy University found that the waterway had contributed nearly $43 billion in direct, indirect, and induced economic benefits to the United States, including the direct creation of more than 29,000 jobs,[13] and was replacing an annual average of 284,000 truckloads.[13]
The Divide Cut (34°55′0″N88°14′31″W / 34.91667°N 88.24194°W /34.91667; -88.24194 (Divide Cut)) is a 29 mi (47 km) canal that makes the connection to theTennessee River. It connectsPickwick Lake on the Tennessee toBay Springs Lake, atMississippi Highway 30. The cut carries the waterway between theTennessee River watershed, which eventually empties into theOhio River, and theTombigbee River watershed, which eventually empties into theGulf of Mexico atMobile.
Pickwick Lake is a popular location forwater sports such aswaterskiing andwakeboarding.
For construction of the Divide Cut, the entire town ofHolcut, Mississippi, had to be removed and demolished. Today, the Holcut Memorial lies alongside the waterway on the previous site of the town.
The Divide Cut was investigated as a candidate for the use of nuclear explosives as part ofProject Plowshare. Three routes were considered, including the Yellow Creek route that was eventually chosen for the conventional excavation. The Bear Creek route was considered best for nuclear explosives, as it was rocky and more likely to be stable following blasts. The nuclear excavation proposal for Bear Creek envisioned 81 nuclear devices ranging from 10 to 50kilotons, with a total explosive yield of 1.9 megatons. A cost analysis indicated that nuclear explosives would increase costs from 31 to 73 percent over conventional excavation on the Yellow Creek route. Two safety analyses recommended that the project not be pursued. The studies projected severe damage to nearby communities from air blast, seismic motion, groundwater contamination, and fallout. No further study was undertaken, and conventional excavation was pursued.[14]
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:
The Tenn-Tom is at least 300 feet wide over its entire length, but the inside dimensions of its 10 locks are 110 feet wide by 600 feet long ... The locks on the Mississippi River are the same dimensions as those on the Tenn-Tom, but none of them are [is] south of St. Louis, which means commercial traffic isn't slowed down by navigating a lock system.
While early plans called for a canal 28 feet wide and four feet deep, with 44 locks, the 234-mile Waterway was built with a minimum width of 300 feet, a depth of nine feet (or more), and just 10 large locks (all 600 feet long and 110 feet wide).
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