Editing Tuscaloosa, Alabama (section)

====Port of Tuscaloosa====
The Port of Tuscaloosa is a river port located in the City of Tuscaloosa and administered by the Alabama State [[Port Authority]].[[File:CrimsonwhiteBWRtuscaloosa.png|thumb|right|The ''Crimson White'' on the Black Warrior River]]

The Black Warrior River is bounded along nearly its entire course by a series of [[Lock (water transport)|locks]] and dams. They form a chain of narrow reservoirs, providing aids to navigation and barge handling as well as [[hydroelectric power]] and drinking water. The Black Warrior River watershed is a vital river basin entirely contained within Alabama, America's leading state for freshwater [[biodiversity]]. Near Tuscaloosa, the river flows out of the rocky [[Cumberland Plateau]] and enters the sandy East [[Gulf Coastal Plain]]. Barge transportation in and out of the Port of Tuscaloosa and other commercial navigation make the Black Warrior a silent giant in the state of Alabama's economy. Although the Port of Tuscaloosa is a small one, it is one of the larger facilities on the Black Warrior River at [[waterway]] [[mile marker]] 338.5. There are no railway connections at this port as they primarily concentrate on the shipment of dry [[bulk commodities]], including [[lignite]], coal and [[coal coke]]. The federal government and the City of Tuscaloosa share the ownership of the Port of Tuscaloosa; the operation of the port is leased out to Powell Sales and has been run by them since 1997.

At waterway mile marker 343.2 on the opposite side of the river is a steel company with its own tracks at the rear of the plant connecting with the [[Kansas City Southern Railroad]] for barge shipments of iron and steel products such as [[ingots]], bars, rods, steel slabs, plates and coils. Tuscaloosa Steel Corporation was one of the first U.S. steel companies to implement the Steckel Mill Technology.

The Port of Tuscaloosa grew out of the system of locks and dams on the Black Warrior River built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1890s. Its construction opened up an inexpensive transportation link to the Gulf seaport of Mobile, Alabama that stimulated the mining and metallurgical industries of the region that are still in operation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maritimelawyer-alabama.com/port-of-tuscaloosa.asp |title=Port of Tuscaloosa Accidents &#124; Offshore Injury Attorney |website=Maritimelawyer-alabama.com |access-date=May 13, 2016 |archive-date=July 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714034805/http://www.maritimelawyer-alabama.com/port-of-tuscaloosa.asp |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Army Corps of Engineers]] has maintained a system of locks and dams along the Black Warrior River for over a century to allow navigability all the way up to Birmingham.<ref>{{cite web|title=Black Warrior River Watershed Management Plan|url=http://www.adem.state.al.us/programs/water/nps/files/BlackWarriorBMP.pdf|work=adem.state.al.us|publisher=[[Alabama Department of Environmental Management]]|access-date=June 4, 2018|archive-date=April 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412174607/http://www.adem.state.al.us/programs/water/nps/files/BlackWarriorBMP.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Barge traffic thus routinely runs through Tuscaloosa to the Alabama State Docks at Mobile, Alabama. Via the [[Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway|Tenn-Tom Waterway]], the city is connected to the Ohio River valley and beyond.