appeared valid. The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway had opened in the midst of an economic recession in the barge business, which resulted in initially disappointingly low use of the waterway. The 1988 drought, however, closed the Mississippi River and shifted traffic to the Tenn-Tom canal. This coincided with an economic turnaround on the Tennessee-Tombigbee corridor, wherein trade tonnage and commercial investment increased steadily over several years. The two primary commodities shipped via the Tenn-Tom are coal and timber products, together comprising about 70 percent of total commercial shipping on the waterway. The Tenn-Tom also provides access to over of commercial forests and approximately two-thirds of all recoverable coal reserves in the nation. Industries that use these natural resources have found the waterway to be their most cost-efficient mode of transportation. Other popular trade products carried on the Tenn-Tom include grain, gravel, sand, and iron. A 2009 study by Troy University found that the waterway had contributed nearly $43 billion in direct, indirect, and induced economic benefits to the United States, including the direct creation of more than 29,000 jobs, and was replacing an annual average of 284,000 truckloads. Divide Cut The Divide Cut () is a canal that makes the connection to the Tennessee River. It connects Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee to Bay Springs Lake, at Mississippi Highway 30. The cut carries the waterway between the Tennessee River watershed, which eventually empties into the Ohio River, and the Tombigbee River watershed, which eventually empties into the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile. Pickwick Lake is a popular location for water sports such as waterskiing and wakeboarding. For construction of the Divide Cut, the entire town of Holcut, Mississippi, had to be removed and demolished. Today, the Holcut Memorial lies alongside the waterway on the previous site of the town. Locks and dams The waterway is composed of ten locks (listed below from north to south along the waterway); many are named after Southern politicians who supported the project: Jamie Whitten Lock and Dam; formerly named Bay Springs Lock and Dam – impounds Bay Springs Lake G. V. Montgomery Lock; formerly named Lock E John Rankin Lock; formerly named Lock D Fulton Lock; located in Fulton, Mississippi, formerly named Lock C Glover Wilkins Lock; located in Smithville, Mississippi, formerly named Lock B Amory Lock; located in Amory, Mississippi, formerly named Lock A Aberdeen Lock and Dam; located in Aberdeen, Mississippi – impounds Aberdeen