Alabama River
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox river
The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about Template:Convert north of Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka.<ref name = eb>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Over a course of approximately Template:Convert, the river meanders west towards Selma, then southwest until, about Template:Convert from Mobile, it unites with the Tombigbee, forming the Mobile and Tensaw rivers, which discharge into Mobile Bay.<ref name = eb/>
DescriptionEdit
The run of the Alabama is highly meandering.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Its width varies from Template:Convert, and its depth from Template:Convert. Its length as measured by the United States Geological Survey is Template:Convert,<ref name=NHD>U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Template:Webarchive, accessed April 27, 2011</ref> and by steamboat measurement, Template:Convert.<ref name="Berney">Template:Cite book</ref>
The river crosses the richest agricultural and timber districts of the state. Railways connect it with the mineral regions of north-central Alabama.
After the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, the principal tributary of the Alabama is the Cahaba River, which is about Template:Convert long<ref name=NHD/> and joins the Alabama River about Template:Convert below Selma. The Alabama River's main tributary, the Coosa River, crosses the mineral region of Alabama and is navigable for light-draft boats from Rome, Georgia, to about Template:Convert above Wetumpka (about Template:Convert below Rome and Template:Convert below Greensport), and from Wetumpka to its junction with the Tallapoosa. The channel of the river has been considerably improved by the federal government.
The navigation of the Tallapoosa River – which has its source in Paulding County, Georgia, and is about Template:Convert long<ref name=NHD/> – is prevented by shoals and a Template:Convert fall at Tallassee, a few miles north of its junction with the Coosa. The Alabama is navigable throughout the year.
The river played an important role in the growth of the economy in the region during the 19th century as a source of transportation of goods, which included slaves. The river is still used for transportation of farming produce; however, it is not as important as it once was due to the construction of roads and railways.
Documented by Europeans first in 1701,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the Alabama, Coosa, and Tallapoosa rivers were central to the homeland of the Creek Indians before their removal by United States forces to the Indian Territory in the 1830s.
Lock and damsEdit
The Alabama River has three lock and dams between Montgomery and the Mobile River. The Robert F. Henry Lock & Dam is located at river mile 236.2, the Millers Ferry Lock & Dam is located at river mile 133.0, and the Claiborne Lock & Dam is located at river mile 72.5.<ref>Courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District </ref> These dams create R.E. "Bob" Woodruff Lake, William Dannely Reservoir, and Claiborne Lake respectively.
GalleryEdit
- USACE Claiborne Lock and Dam.jpg
Claiborne Lock and Dam on the Alabama River, approximately Template:Convert upriver from Claiborne, Monroe County
- USACE Robert F Henry Lock and Dam.jpg
Robert F. Henry Lock and Dam on the Alabama River, approximately Template:Convert east of Selma
- Cesam249.jpg
Millers Ferry Lock and Dam on the Alabama River in Wilcox County, approximately Template:Convert northwest of Camden
- Alabama River RM192 Selma.JPG
Alabama River in Dallas County looking upstream towards Selma.
- Alabama River at Benton Park.JPG
The Alabama River in Lowndes County as seen from Benton Park in Benton, Alabama.
- Edmund Pettus Bridge over Alabama River.jpg
The Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma overlooking the Alabama River.
- Selma December 2018 11 (Alabama River).jpg
The Alabama River in Selma
- Riverfront Park December 2018 07 (Alabama River).jpg
Alabama River at Riverfront Park in Montgomery
See alsoEdit
- List of Alabama rivers
- Tallapoosa River
- Coosa River
- Mobile River
- South Atlantic-Gulf Water Resource Region