| |
|
HYDROLOGIC MODIFICATIONS
Congressmen who promoted the Tenn-Tom endured such accusations for years.
Their names ended up on six of the waterway’s 10 locks. They include U.S.
Sen. Howell Heflin and Rep. Tom Bevill of Alabama and Sen. John Stennis and
Reps. Jamie Whitten, G. V. “Sonny” Montgomery and John Rankin of
Mississippi. (Tombigbee
Country)
THE DIVIDE CUT
Ten
years of work and a cost of nearly $500 million were needed to excavate a
canal through the divide that separates the watersheds of the Tennessee and
Tombigbee Rivers. The deepest cut is 175 feet and the average depth of
excavation along the entire 29-mile reach is 50 feet. While the breadth of
the cut at the top of the natural terrain is nearly one-half mile wide, the
canal itself is 280 feet wide and 12 feet deep. The 150-million cubic yards
of earth removed (nearly one and one-half times that excavated in building
the Suez Canal) were carefully deposited and landscaped in the valleys along
the canal. This successful disposal of so much excavated soil solved one of
the most potentially serious environmental problems confronting the
construction of the waterway.
JAMIE WHITTEN LOCK AND
DAM
Whitten Lock and Dam, located in Tishomingo County near Belmont,
Mississippi, is the northernmost lock on the Tenn-Tom. The Lock raises and
lowers barges and pleasure boats 84 feet, the difference in the elevation
levels of the water above and below the dam. This is the fourth highest
single lift lock in the nation. The dam forms a 6600 - acre lake that joins
the so - called Divide Cut canal, and ultimately connects the Tenn-Tom with
the Tennessee River. The structure, named in honor of Jamie Whitten, a
former Congressman from Mississippi who served over 50 years in the U.S.
House of Representatives, cost $75 million.
G.V. “SONNY”
MONTGOMERY LOCK AND DAM
Montgomery Lock is located in northern Itawamba County, Mississippi and
named after a former U.S. Representative from Mississippi. The lock has a
lift of 30 feet and cost $47 million.
JOHN RANKIN LOCK AND
DAM
This
lock is one of five such structures that makeup the so - called Chain of
Lakes or Canal segment of the waterway. These locks form relatively small
lakes (most less than 1000 acres in size) to help minimize environmental
impacts. A levee along the western side of these impoundments preserved the
upper reach of the Tombigbee River by preventing its inundation and
destruction. Rankin Lock has a lift of 30 feet and is located in Itawamba
County, Mississippi. It is named in honor of former Congressman John Rankin
of Mississippi, one of the waterway’s earliest champions in the Congress.
FULTON LOCK AND DAM
Named
for the nearby Town of Fulton, Mississippi, the lock has a lift of 25 feet.
Its lake is the largest in the Chain of Lakes section at 1643 acres and is
the setting for the Whitten Historical Center, a major attraction of the
waterway.
GLOVER WILKINS LOCK
AND DAM
Wilkins Lock has a lift of 25 feet and cost $34 million. It is located in
northern Monroe County near Smithville, Mississippi The Lock is named after
the long time administrator of the Tenn - Tom Waterway Development
Authority, who was instrumental in making the waterway a reality.
AMORY LOCK AND DAM
Named
after the nearby Town of Amory, the lock is the southern most facility in
the Chain of Lakes section of Tenn-Tom. It has a lift of 30 feet. The 914 -
acre lake caused by the lock was the site in December 1984 where the last
remaining section of the navigation channel was removed. After 12 years of
construction, this allowed the "mixing" of waters from the two river systems
and permitted unimpeded flow of commerce through the waterway.
ABERDEEN LOCK AND DAM
which forms
LAKE
ABERDEEN
The
27-foot lift lock is located in Aberdeen, MS, and its namesake. The dam
forms a 13.5-mile long lake covering over 4,000 acres. The project cost $43
million. This and the following three locks and dams make up the so-called
River Section where the waterway generally follows the course of the
Tombigbee River.
JOHN C. STENNIS LOCK
AND DAM
This structure was relocated about four miles from its original site to
prevent the flooding and loss of Plymouth Bluff, the site of an early
settlement and a unique geological formation. One of the waterway’s two
environmental centers is located here. The center, operated by the
Mississippi University of Women, offers
unique educational opportunities in the earth sciences and is available to
the general public. The 27-foot lift lock and dam is located in Lowndes
County, Mississippi near Columbus and is named in honor of one of
Mississippi’s greatest leaders of this century, former U.S. Senator John C.
Stennis. Columbus Lake is the largest of the ten impoundments making up the
Tenn-Tom, some 23 miles long and over 8900 acres in size.
TOM BEVILL LOCK AND
DAM
Bevill Lock and Dam is located in Pickens County, Al near the Town of
Pickensville. The lock has a lift of 27 feet and the dam impounds the 8300 -
acre Aliceville Lake. The project cost $45 million. It is named in honor of
former Alabama Congressman Tom Bevill. Mr. Bevill chaired the congressional
committee in the U.S. House of Representatives that approved the funding for
the Tenn-Tom during its construction. Here is located one of the waterway’s
most impressive and recognizable sights, the Tom Bevill Visitors Center.
This majestic replica of a southern antebellum plantation home sits on the
waterway near the MV. Montgomery, a retired paddle wheel river work boat.
Both are open to the public
HOWELL HEFLIN
LOCK AND DAM
The Heflin Lock and Dam is the southernmost structure on the Tenn-Tom. From
here, commercial and recreation vessels reach the connecting
Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway some 53 miles away on an improved Tombigbee River
and the impoundment created by the Demopolis Lock and Dam. From Demopolis,
it is 215 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. The lock has a lift of 36 feet, the
second highest on the Tenn - Tom. It is located in Greene County near the
Town of Gainesville, Al. Its impoundment, Gainesville Lake, is 40 miles long
and covers 6,400 acres. The lock and dam is named in honor of former U.S.
Senator, Howell Heflin, of Alabama.
|
|
|
