• Friday-What'sUP February 5 - 04:17 pm

Brenda Leigh brought us some photos last week, of Big Bay Point Lighthouse and today she shares the ride back from there to just west of Marquette on the 510. She called the area a "Winter Wonderland" and said it reminded her of how winter used to be. Her first shot is the old covered bridge that spans the Dead River Basin. This is actually toward the end of the 510, near US 41. Brenda said the crane in the background was there working on a new bridge, not quite sure where it will lead to though.

The next three photos are all taken of something the "locals" call Black Rock. During the winter months, the water that is running over this rock wall, freezes drop by drop, to form these impressive, thick, ice walls. You can campare the size of the car in the background, to the ice wall, just to get a better idea of how big those icicles are. In Brenda's last shot, you get the feeling of entering a tunnel, with the branches of the trees overhanging the road and the snow clinging to them, just waiting to drop on some unsuspecting passer-by.
Yes, indeed, I'd have to agree with Brenda on her description of this area as Snow Country.

Please VOTE for CC Vet clinic!
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?siteId=3

Scroll down to the purple box, in the search part, go for MI, and HOUGHTON, then you'll get the CC vet clinic, click on "vote" for them, and you'll get a picture of an animal...you type what kind of animal it is, and then the vote is successful! Thanks!

Very nice! Is this part of Picture Rocks?

Very beautiful winter pictures! I love those old style frame bridges, sad not many left around where I live anymore.

Marquette County is in the process of replacing that bridge with a new modern one. That old bridge was bought "used" from Pennsylvania and moved to 510 in the early 1900"s. There used to be another of those old beautiful framed bridges on Lakewood Lane in Harvey. It was replaced back in the 50's or very early 60's. Not many of them left now. :-(.

I recently took a picture of the frozen Alger Falls and they are beautiful.

I do know that I can pick and choose which pictures I want to develop but, they all turn out so nice I develop all of the pictures I take. A lot of places we have to discover and visit now that we are living here. ;O)

While not a covered bridge it is a nice example of a steel truss bridge. You don't see too many of them anymore, and even fewer built. Steel is more expensive to buy and maintain than a modern concrete pre-stressed bridge. The concrete bridges just don't have the same character as the old truss bridges.

Awesome Photos!! Quite a feeling you get just looking at them. It must have been an unique experience just being there, the sight, sound, and feel of it all must of been overwhelming. Its a lot to take in. That definetly is, what winter in the "woods" is. Thanks for sharing!!

Awesome pics today! TGIF :)

Donna, you got my vote.

That bridge in Negaunee Township used to be a pretty good swimming hole.

The Dr. and I traveled 510 this past summer because we were told it contained many neat geologic stops along the way; one of those stops was "Black Rock". Below is a geologic description from the Marquette Fieldtrip Guidebook written by the ILSG for Black Rock and the reason behind its name:

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Quote:

Stop 10 - BIF, Basalt, Gabbro
This outcrop consists of iron formation in contact to the north and south with massive basalt. To the west the basalt is cut by gabbro. The contact between the basalt and gabbro follows the highway. The iron-formation is approximately 5 feet thick and trends N30°W. It is compcsed almost exclusively of fine, black
chert which contains scattered magnetite grains and abundant pyrite, To the west of this locality, the iron-formation member is generally layered with 1/2 inch chert and magnetite bands. Although the magnetite content can be highly
variable, the iron-formation produces a strong magnetic signature. The basalt is dark green to black, fine-grained and relatively non-foliated. The gabbro is medium-grained, ophitic to sub-ophitic, and is composed of equigranular amphibole, plagioclase and chlorite.

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Don't worry about loosing the old bridge. Since it's historic they might just leave it there. This could be why they are building the replacement away from the existing structure. If this project is funded by the feds you can pretty much bet that they won't tear down the old bridge without a VERY good reason.

Great pics Brenda! I haven't driven 510 during the winter yet.

Some of the old steel framed bridges that were not totaled out due to our massive floods in '08 here in Iowa have been closed to cars, trucks, etc. and are now left for foot bridges. The old railroad ones are my favorite.

I hate the fact that those old bridges are replaced. They have real charactor. Is this the road that leads to the Yellow Dog River waterfalls on the northern end? What a fantastic scenic road. I want to leave right now for a drive. Alot of history involved with this road,
is this the road that was to be M-35 that was planned to cross the Huron Mt. Property?

Captain Paul, don't know what all that means. All I know is the song; "Like A Rock".

Beautiful photos! I like the steel truss bridge, 2.

All one really needs to know from all that is the reason it's black is because it's composed of BIF, basalt, and gabbro; all very dark coloured rocks.... J

Yes, 510 was going to be part of an M35 route from Gladstone to Ontonagon County via the Huron Mtns and L'Anse. The Huron Mtn Club wanted no part of a state hwy in their area, and the whole M35 never happened. Some of the 510 bridges are left over from the M35 intentions. Does anyone remember when M38 westward from Baraga was designated M35....the western portion of the whole M35 route?

Are there any hiking trails off the 510 that
can be taken from parking areas?
This area seems to be a serious wilderness.

from WikipediA

The Steel Bridge carrying Marquette County Road 510 over the Dead River. One of the first tasks for the State Highway Department was bridging the Dead River in Negaunee Township, 3 miles (5 km) north of US 41. The state solved the problem by buying a bridge in Pennsylvania, where bridges of this design were more common. MDOT describes the bridge as:

... a rare Pennsylvania through truss highway bridge, particularly because of the length [271 feet (83 m)] of this single span. It was purchased by the State Highway Department in 1919, moved from an unspecified Allegheny River site, probably considerably upstream from Pittsburgh, an then erected on this site in 1921.

The bridge is still in place over the Dead River and carries CR 510 as the successor to M-35 in northern Marquette County. Known locally as "The Steel Bridge", it survived a May 15, 2003 flood caused by the breaching of the Silver Lake Dam. The Marquette County Road Commission has announced plans to bypass the Steel Bridge with a modern replacement, leaving the existing bridge as a footpath or bike path.

James Alain: regarding M-38's former designation, it was part of M-35 until sometime in 1968. BTW, this isn't the 1st time the M-38 designation has been used. The 1st time was from c.1930 to 1961 between Mayville and US-10/US-23 near Bridgeport. The M-38 designation was removed when the I-75/US-10/US-23 freeway opened to traffic.

In case anyone is interested, here's a link to the full Wikipedia article on The Steel Bridge, State Highway M-35, Henry Ford and the Huron Mountain Club.