Tuesday

October 25, 2016

Left the Zippy Branch anchorage at 0700 and headed down the Yellow River towards the TennesseeTombigbee Waterway (Tenn-Tom).  Many looper boats were at Grand Harbor marina close by, and were also going down the Tenn-Tom with us.

A little bit of Tenn-Tom history

The Tenn-Tom is the largest civil works project ever undertaken by the Corps of Engineers.  The system is five times longer and has a total lift 3.5 times greater than the Panama Canal.  Construction required 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 first known recommendation to build a canal linking the Tennessee and the Tombigbee Rivers was by a French explorer in about 1760.  Marquis de Montcalm believed a connection between the two rivers would help the French settle the South.

In 1820, the citizens of Knox County, TN (Knoxville) petitioned Congress to build a Waterway, so they could trade with Gulf Coast ports.

Ulysses S Grant's first official proposal in the White House, was to build a waterway from Tennessee to the Gulf.  His proposal included 44 locks and a price tag of $1.7 million, in 1874.

There were many additional studies before a workable plan was achieved in 1971.  The project started in 1972 and after 12 years cost $2 billion.  It officially opens on January 10, 1985.

The Tenn-Tom is divided into three sections:  The Divide Cut, the Canal Section and the River Section.    The Black Warrior and Tombigbee rivers, continuing on into Mobile Bay are not a part of this project.

Back to today

We went through the Divide Cut and part of the Canal Section of the Tenn-Tom.  We then anchored just before the Fulton Lock & Dam.  All the other looper boats traveling with us pulled into Midway Marina for the night, a few miles earlier.

Yellow Creek-just after leaving our Zippy anchorage

A beautiful morning drive down Yellow Creek

The Tenn-Tom - Divide Cut section is called a "ditch" by most.  We thought it was beautiful.

More of the Divide Cut.   Notice the water looks like glass.  

When you see these beautiful structures, there is usually a river hidden behind them.  They control the  flow of  water into the Tenn-Tom during rainy season.

Looper boats in the first of 10 Tenn-Tom locks.  The locks start in the  Tenn-Tom Canal Section.

The first Tenn-Tom lock, Jamie L. Whitten Lock & Dam, has a lift of 84 feet.

Another view of the Whitten locks as we were lowered 84 feet.

We call this a looper float-tilla.  We all went together from one lock to the next.  There were also two boats in front of us.

A view in the Tenn-Tom Canal Section.


Tomorrow we hope to get through 3 more locks in the Canal Section and one in the River Section, before staying at the Columbus Marina for two nights.  Might not make it, but we will see.