Savannah River

Paddle steamer on the Savannah River

The Savannah River is an approximately 560 km long river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina. The river rises in the southeastern part of the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and is part of the eastern watershed. The most important tributaries of the Tugaloo River and the Seneca River are mentioned.

The most important cities along the river are Savannah and Augusta.

The river was an important factor for the economic development of the State of Georgia in the 18th century.

History

In 1733 the city of Savannah was the Savannah River founded as Atlantic seaport and three years later, the city of Augusta, which is located on the southern shore of here the border between Georgia and South Carolina -forming flow. The Savannah River overcomes at Augusta with a series of small waterfalls the height difference between the westerly hill country and the Atlantic coastal plain and is therefore only navigable to Augusta, which was the main reason for the establishment of a town at this point.

Between 1946 and 1985, erected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers three major dams on the Savannah River, serving the power generation, water flow regulation and shipping: J. Strom Thurmond Dam ( 1954), Hartwell Dam ( 1962) and Richard B. Russell Dam ( 1985). The corresponding reservoirs together extend over an original flow length of 190 km.

Economy

In the vicinity of Augusta is Savannah River Site, a large military zone of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE ) with a plant for the reprocessing of nuclear fuels and the manufacture of nuclear weapons.