road sign on M-28/M-94 in Alger County west of Shingleton M-94 begins at an intersection with
M-553 and crosses the former K. I. Sawyer AFB. Then it overlaps
US 41 for a little over a mile near
Skandia. East of Skandia, M-94 runs through forest lands and serves the communities of
Sundell and
Rumely before entering
Eben Junction. There M-94 intersects the southern section of
H-01. Further east is
Chatham where there are junctions with the northern section of H-01 and
M-67. M-94 turns southerly briefly before returning to an east–west direction to head to the community of
Forest Lake and ultimately
Munising. There M-94 joins a concurrency with M-28 and the
Lake Superior Circle Tour from Munising to
Shingleton. Until the turn at Shingleton, the route is more decidedly east–west than north–south. Between Shingleton and Manistique, M-94 is more north–south. South of Shingleton, M-94 runs through forest lands as a part of the
Great Manistique Swamp. Along the way are national forest campgrounds located near
Steuben. South of Crooked Lake, M-94 curves to the east before turning almost due south to the Manistique area.
Siphon Bridge In Manistique, M-94 crosses the
Manistique River on the "Siphon Bridge". Built as a part of a raceway flume on the river, the water level actually used to be higher than the road surface. This produced a siphon effect, giving the bridge its nickname. The Manistique Pulp and Paper Company was organized in 1916 and needed a dam on the Manistique River to supply their mill. This dam would have needed to flood a large section of the city. The shallow river banks meant difficulties in any bridge construction. Instead of expensive dikes, a concrete tank was built lengthwise in the river bed. The sides of this tank provided man-made banks higher than the natural banks. The Michigan
Works Progress Administration described the bridge as having, "concrete bulkheads, formed by the side spans of the bridge, [that] allow the mill to maintain the water level several feet above the roadbed." The bridge acted as a
siphon because the water level was above the roadway, and the structure has been featured in
Ripley's Believe It or Not! ==History==