Decatur AL (Alabama)

Decatur AL is a Tennessee River/Ohio River cruise port and city in Alabama USA (Morgan County and Limestone County) with population around 55,000. Nicknamed "The River City", Decatur is located on Wheeler Lake (created by Wheeler Dam along Tennessee River) and is the main city of Decatur Metro (population around 155,000).

Three lakes are estuaries of Tennessee River in the region - Wheeler, Morgan, and Chula Vista. The city also extends to Flint Creek island and the inlet Dry Branch. At Decatur are linked (via the two Steamboat Bill Bridges) Morgan and Limestone counties. The original drawbridge (William Keller Bridge) was opened in 1928 and in 1963 was replaced with two bridges - one cantilever () and one reinforced concrete. The bridges carry three highways (US 31, US 72, SR 20).

As cruise port, Decatur AL is included in the schedule of one of the USA's largest river cruise companies - AQSC-American Queen Voyages/Steamboat Company. Next tables show American Duchess ship's 7-night/8-day itineraries that visit Decatur. Prices started from ~USD 2500 per person with double occupancy.

In 2022, AQSC introduced another 7-day itinerary - between Nashville/Clarksville and Chattanooga. The southbound cruisetour starts with an overnight hotel in Nashville TN and bus travel (on the following day) to Clarksville for boarding the riverboat. The northbound cruisetour starts with an overnight hotel in Chattanooga and boarding the riverboat on the next day.

Like many river port cities in the USA, Decatur's economic growth in the 19th century was based on the railroad and shipping traffic. The city quickly developed into a major trade hub on the routes Nashville TN - Mobile AL (Caribbean seaport) and Chattanooga TN-New Orleans Louisiana (seaport).

Port Decatur Alabama

The 1971-founded Port Decatur is a transshipment river port directly connected to two major (Class I) freight railroads - Norfolk Southern Railway (total length 19420 mi / 31250 km, in 22x US states) and CSXT (total length 21000 mi / 34000 km, in Eastern USA and Canada's Ontario and Quebec provinces), as well as to Alabama state's highways.

Port Decatur's facilities include intermodal transfer points (dry ports for transhipments between river barges-trucks-trains), warehouses (for storing dry-bulk, liquid bulk, general cargo), open storage area (12 acres / 4,9 hectares) and quay length 2000 ft (610 m) with max draft 30 ft (9 m) year-round.

Port's traffic is mainly imports (industrial materials and agricultural products: sand, asphalt, fertilizers, coal, steel piping, grains, poultry feed products for Golden Kist) and transhipments.

By annual volumes, Decatur is currently ranked Tennessee River's busiest port, handling mainly cargo barge cargoes.

The city's current-day economy is based mainly on heavy industries like mining, manufacturing, chemicals, transportation. The city's largest employers are General Electric Company, 3M Company, Wayne Farms LLC (poultry producing and processing), ULA-United Launch Alliance (manufacturer of rocket vehicles and provider of spacecraft launch services), Nucor Corporation (steel production), Bunge Limited (agribusiness and food), Daikin Industries Ltd (Japanese air-conditioner manufacturer), Hyosung Corporation (South Korea, specializes in chemicals and industrial machinery, IT, trade, construction), Ascend Performance Materials LLC (high-performance materials), TVA-Tennessee Valley Authority (a federally-owned corporation specializing in river navigation, flood control, fertilizer manufacturing, electricity generation).