Bridge planned for St. Marys River, part of cleanup project

  SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (AP) — Officials say construction will begin next year on a 625-foot bridge on the St. Marys River, an important step toward repairing more than a century of environmental damage.
The river links Lakes Huron and Superior. Navigation projects have disrupted its water flow, and bottomlands around Sault Ste. Marie were coated with industrial discharges.
The latest project in the Little Rapids area involves building the pedestrian and vehicle bridge between Sugar Island and another island with a ferry landing.
It's designed to restore more natural currents and produce 50-to-70 acres of fish spawning habitat.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality says it's expected to be the final action needed to remove the U.S. side of the St. Marys river from a list of heavily degraded Great Lakes sites.