Mile 885.0 - 885 - 883.8 RBD New Madrid Industrial Reach

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

885 - 883.8 RBD New Madrid Industrial Reach

Leaving the Wild Miles at New Madrid, paddlers will encounter a few grain elevators and a lumber dock downstream of the town behind the New Madrid Bar. But the real heavy duty industry comes five miles downstream right bank descending at the New Madrid County Port, where the giant smokestack of the New Madrid Power Plant dominates the scene. At 800 feet this is the tallest chimney in the state of Missouri, and one of the tallest smokestacks in the world. Next door is the Noranda Aluminum Plant. Every day of the year, every hour of the day, Noranda needs 485 megawatts of power — 10 percent of the power Ameren Missouri produces and roughly equivalent to the electricity needs of Springfield, Mo., the state’s third-largest city. How much does Noranda pay for this servcie? It has an annual electric bill $170 million.

The Noranda Aluminum Plant converts molten aluminum into continuous cast rod, extrusion billet and foundry ingot. The fabrication facility has the capacity to produce annually approximately 160 million pounds of rod (used mainly for electrical applications and steel de-oxidation); 286 million pounds of extrusion billet (used mainly for building construction and architectural and transportation applications) and 75 million pounds of foundry ingot (used mainly for transportation). During 2011, New Madrid produced 29% of the rod manufactured in North America and supplied 13% of the primary extrusion billet produced in North American primary smelter cast-houses. (From Noranda Aluminum website)

Once past the Noranda Aluminum Plant the wild feel of the Lower Mississippi quickly resumes, and with the exception of two grain elevators you will enjoy almost unbroken woods, islands and big river all the way down to Caruthersville.

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Table of Contents Appendix I - The Lower Missouri River Water Trail Appendix II - Upper Mississippi River Water Trails Appendix III - Mike Clark: Chain of Rocks Appendix IV - Mike Clark: Alton to Arch Appendix V - Over the Chain of Rocks with the Lewis & Clark Appendix

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