Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, system of navigation channels, 234 mi (377 km) long, Ala. and Miss., connecting the Tennessee River with the Tombigbee River and, via the Mobile River, with the Gulf of Mexico. It flows S from the Tennessee via a canal in NE Mississippi, crosses into Alabama at Aliceville Lake, then runs SSE to Demopolis, Ala. There are ten locks and dams on the waterway, which shortened the distance by water to the Gulf of Mexico from many inland areas, though the increase in commercial traffic was less than expected. First approved in 1946, it was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1972 to 1984, and opened in 1985.
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