Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, commonly called the Tenn-Tom links The Tennessee River with Mobile Bay. This route is preferred by recreational boaters because although this is primarily a commercial waterway, it lacks the large numbers of commercial vessels commonly encountered on the Mississippi River. The Tenn-Tom opened officially for commerce on January 10, 1985 and was the largest civil works project ever undertaken by the Army corps of Engineers. The system is five times longer and has a total lift 3.5 times greater than the Panama Canal. Construction required the removal of 307 million cubic yards of earth, the pouring of 2.2 million cubic yards of concrete and the use of 33,000 tons of steel. The Tennessee-Tombigbee consists of four sections. As one begins their trip down the Tenn-Tom, the first section is called the Divide Cut; this 38 mile canal connects the Tennessee River with the Tombigbee River and consists of a canal with levees on both sides. The rivers that empty into the Tenn-Tom each make their own “waterfalls”. This cut ends in Bay Springs Lake, a pretty spot where we anchored for the night. The next 45 miles are called the Canal Section. The Tombigbee River has so many twists and turns that a canal was dug to straighten the river with locks added to minimize the environmental impact. The first lock, the Whitten Lock with its 84 foot lift is the largest on the Tenn-Tom. One feels civilization has been left behind while traveling along this waterway. Herons, Egrets and Bald Eagles are plentiful along the banks of the river. There are fewer services along the way and many of the marinas offer only basic services.













We have traveled through seven locks and descended 251 feet thus far and are currently tied up in Columbus, Mississippi at one of the few full service marinas along this stretch. Columbus is in the third section, the River Section which is 149 miles in length. We were accommodated here in a covered slip to await the passage of Hurricane Ida. She came ashore yesterday bringing two inches of rain and some breezy conditions to our location. The largest amounts of rainfall were to the east of us. This rain, however, will impact us as it all drains to the Gulf of Mexico by way of the river systems. The Black Warrior River, the fourth section of the Tenn-Tom is expected to crest at 40 feet above normal on Thursday with the current running at 8 knots. We will remain in Columbus until the rivers become navigable once again and then resume our trip down these last two portions of the Tenn-Tom to Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.