"Taking Classrooms to the River" "Taking Classrooms to the River" Captain Pete's Tenn-Tom
Look at a map of our country and you will notice we have a lot of water. Some 42 major rivers in the center part of the United States. This comprises the better part of some 16,000 miles of inland Navigable waterways. Navigable means capable of supporting commercial transportation. There are about 25,000 miles of waterways in the USA and most all are maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
But with all this water in our nations central region there were only two entrances and exits: the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. The entrance from the Great Lakes is through the Chicago Ship Canal and the Illinois River connecting with the Mississippi River just above the juncture with the Ohio River. Of course the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico just below New Orleans LA.
A part of these inland waterways includes the Tennessee River. It starts just above Knoxville TN, and flows generally southwest into Alabama. There it turns to the west, flows across the state and as it comes against Mississippi, turns sharply back to the north. It continues north through TN and KY and finally empties into the Ohio River at Paducah KY.
Now back at the Mississippi - Alabama state line, instead of turning north with the Tennessee River if you turned south you would have about 30 miles of high ground before you came into the Tombigbee River valley, which starts up in the northeast corner of the state of Mississippi.
If a canal could be dug connecting the Tennessee River valley and the Tombigbee River valley it would do several things: It would create a third access to these vast inland waterways of America, but not just a third access, an easier and safer access than the Great Lakes or the Mississippi river. But also, depending on the origin and destination of a vessel, a shorter access, up to 800 miles shorter.
This was first thought of back in 1710, by a Frenchman named Monte Blanc. But his superiors thought the idea rather extravagant so it was discarded. Only to surface 100 years later in 1810 when the state legislature of Alabama requested a study of such a project. Again nothing came to pass.
In 1874 the Federal government got into the act. President Ulysses S. Grant ordered a study on the feasibility of the Tenn-Tom Waterway. They were figuring on a waterway 28' wide, 4' deep, that would require 44 locks. But cost/benefit was considered excessive.
Fifty-five terms of Congress went by and there were several more federal studies, but finally Congress authorized the construction of the Tennessee - Tombigbee Waterway, with the passage of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1946, but it didn't provide any funding. Congress did not allocate any funds until 1968, and then it was only pre-construction planning costs. But in 1971 Congress appropriated funds to begin paying for the construction of the Waterway. This time it was held up by two lawsuits, one on environmental issues, the other by the railroads concerned about their revenues.
But in 1972 construction of the Waterway began. Twelve and one half years later, in Jan. of 1985, the first commercial tow {the EDDIE WAXLER with a load of four petroleum barges} passed through the entire Waterway. The largest public works project in U.S. history, and the largest project in the history of the Corps of Engineers was finished 19 months ahead of schedule.
The Waterway officially starts just above Demopolis, AL, 217 miles by river, north of Mobile Bay, at the confluence of the Black Warrior and Tombigbee Rivers. The Corps of Engineers has divided the waterway into three sections.
From the beginning of the Waterway north for 149 miles is the River Section. Through this portion the Corps of Engineers tried to follow the natural course of the Tombigbee River. In many places the Corps had to widen the river to the 300' navigational width necessary for the project. And in a number of areas the Corps had to create cut-offs. Now if you visualize the capitol letter 'D', the natural course of the river would correspond to the curving part of the letter. Where it was impractical to follow the natural course of the river through a long winding bend, the Corps would cut from the upper to lower section by-passing the loop in-between. The cut-off represents the vertical leg of the letter D. The Corps of Engineers created 35 cut-offs along the entire length of the Waterway, shortening it by some 41 miles.
Then about 25 miles north of Columbus, MS, the Corps left the natural course of the Tombigbee River. Just below Amory, MS, is the beginning of the 46 mile Canal Section. Through this portion of the Waterway the Corps created five narrow man-made reservoirs connected by canals.
The next section is the high ground that separates the Tennessee River valley and the Tombigbee River valley. The 39 mile Divide Section begins at Bay Springs Lock & Dam, the northernmost dam on the Waterway. The Divide Section was the most difficult portion of the Waterway for the Corps of Engineers to construct. In one section the Corps had to dig 170' deep just to create a 12' deep channel. More than half of the excavation for the entire Waterway came out of the 33 mile divide cut.
As mentioned earlier, the initial construction was delayed by two lawsuits, but the waterway was also something of a test case. It was the first major public works project following the 1968 Environmental Protection Act. Before the waterway could be completed there were more then 20 major environmental regulations that had to be met. Part of the compliance to the regulations required the acquisition of some 111,000 acres for the project. Of this the completed project created about 44,000 acres of water surface area for navigation, recreation, and wildlife habitat. Another 43,000 acres was set aside for environmental maintenance, and about 13,000 acres was marked for public access and recreation.
Most of the remaining acreage was set aside for the disposal of dredged and excavated materials and these areas are also designated as wildlife habitats. In some of the reservoirs the Corps used dredged materials to build islands to attract water fowl.
Before construction began the Corps realized that much of the information that could be gained from the area may be lost or destroyed, so they sent teams of scientists along the proposed route. These included archeologists, geologists, and environmentalist. These teams made many interesting discoveries. Underwater archeologists in Columbus found a turn of the century sternwheel towboat. Near Amory they found a cypress dugout canoe dated around a thousand years old. Elsewhere along the waterway they found several unknown Indian villages, which dated between 1,200 and 1,400 AD. Also found were signs of human habitation in the area dating back 3,000 years. These and other artifacts may be seen at either of two Corps of Engineers Visitor Centers, one at Bay Springs Lock and Dam and the other at Tom Bevill Lock and Dam.
Bay Springs Lock and Dam, again the northernmost lock on the waterway, is the third highest lift lock in the eastern United States, with a lift of 84'. The visitors at Bay Springs Lock can watch the giant mechanisms operating the tremendous lock doors.
At the Tom Bevill Lock and Dam in addition to the many other displays the Corps has the snagboat Montgomery. A snagboat was a special boat designed to travel our waterways clearing obstructions. When the boat would encounter logs or trees blocking the channel, it would pull over the snag and cut it into smaller pieces (some even used the same wood for propulsion). The snagboat Montgomery was the last paddlewheel snagboat the Corps of Engineers had. It was retired in operating condition and put on display.
When completed in 1985 the final cost of the Waterway was 1.2 billion dollars. That's a lot of money. But to help put things in perspective that is about the cost of a single space shuttle. But there was another benefit of the Waterway that had not been considered. When the Mississippi river ran to record low water in the early 1990's it was closed to commercial navigation for a considerable period. The Tenn-Tom Waterway enabled perishable commercial cargos to continue as well as navigation for national security interests. Additionally, had it not been built when it was the cost of construction would have continued to esculate and to build the Waterway today might have proven unfeasible. Compared to the rate of inflation the Waterway is better than money in the bank.