Cumberland & Tennessee Rivers.

[rebelatsea]

does anyone know the depth of water available in the navigable channels of these two rivers in the 1860s please.

 

[Rhea Cole]

The Cumberland was only navigable after the fall rains. During the summer it was possible to wade across the river at Penengton Bend a few miles up river from the Nashville Landing.

Upriver on the Cumberland it was not unusual to wait two years for the river to rise enough for navigation & allow shipment of agricultural products.

Before the Civil War the 70 mile Nashville & Northwestern Rail Road was begun. It would be finished by Union engineers. It terminated at Johnsonville on the Tennessee River.

Both the Tennessee & Cumberland were & are subject to seasonal extremes. The 9' channel maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers & TVA today bears little resemblance to the historic channels.

https://www.sam.usace.army.mil/Portals/46/docs/navigation/OP-CO/NavCharts/TTW_Navigation_Charts_072012.pdf

The Cumberland River varies between 4 & 200 feet deep.

Cumberland River intertwined with story of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (release)

PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES 1 of 10 A Derrick arrangement is in the pit during the construction of Lock 4 Oct. 26, 1894 on the Cumberland River in Tennessee. The lock and dam were constructed to establish a navigation channel. The lock and dam were replaced by today's modern...

www.waterwayscouncil.org

 

[DixieRifles]

Q: Was the Tennessee River ever navigable at Muscle Shoals, AL?
I assumed it was closed off to all river traffic except small fishing boats except at times of flooding.
I searched for an old photo of this area. I found several photos of a canal cut thru the river. That appeared to be in the 1930's.

 

[Sheltowee]

Just for clarity, at no point does the depth of the Cumberland River remotely approach 400 ft- at least as far as actual water depth.

I believe Internet sources use the 400 number in reference to the depth of gorges on the upper Cumberland.

It appears that the Hudson is generally regarded as the deepest in the US- a bit over 200 feet near West Point.

Sorry- back to our regularly scheduled programming.

 

[Ben Ford 987]

Just for clarity, at no point does the depth of the Cumberland River remotely approach 400 ft- at least as far as actual water depth.

I believe Internet sources use the 400 number in reference to the depth of gorges on the upper Cumberland.

It appears that the Hudson is generally regarded as the deepest in the US- a bit over 200 feet near West Point.

Sorry- back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Thanks for the factual info.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Just for clarity, at no point does the depth of the Cumberland River remotely approach 400 ft- at least as far as actual water depth.

I believe Internet sources use the 400 number in reference to the depth of gorges on the upper Cumberland.

It appears that the Hudson is generally regarded as the deepest in the US- a bit over 200 feet near West Point.

Sorry- back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Thanks for the edit. RC

 

[Rhea Cole]

Q: Was the Tennessee River ever navigable at Muscle Shoals, AL?
I assumed it was closed off to all river traffic except small fishing boats except at times of flooding.
I searched for an old photo of this area. I found several photos of a canal cut thru the river. That appeared to be in the 1930's.

They also had to pass "The Big Suck" at Chattanooga. The steamboats that navigated the upper Tennessee watershed were shallow draft.

You can read about one of the light steamboats built by the Department of the Cumberland here.

Link:

USS Chattanooga: Steamboat opened 'Cracker Line' to feed hungry Union troops. Students think they may have found its wreckage

civil-war-picket.blogspot.com

 

[rebelatsea]

Thank you, most illuminating.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Ghank you, most illuminating.

Glue are welgong. Did not know that you speak Goblin.

 

[rebelatsea]

Glue are welgong. Did not know that you speak Goblin.

There's a very rude joke there, but I'm not going there!