(image source:  Tennessee-Tombigbee Tourism)

The Shoals Area also has a direct navigational link to the Gulf of Mexico via the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and the Mississippi River. The waterway also provides access to the Gulf for the barge traffic of the rivers and ports of mid-America.
 

    The drought experienced during the summer of 1988 demonstrated the importance of an alternate route for barge traffic to the Mississippi River. The Tennessee River was the only artery available to shippers in the upper Mississippi and Ohio River valleys during the in-navigable low water
conditions.
 

    In 1993, 7.1 million tons of materials passed through the waterway's ten locks and five dams. Both public and privately owned port terminals are located throughout the waterway corridor. Companies moving materials through the waterway ship over 2 million tons annually to overseas markets. The geographic position of the waterway easily serves trading with Latin American countries.

 (Source:  Tennessee-Tombigbee Tourism)