St. Cloud dedicates new Granite City Crossing Bridge

The City of St. Cloud is hosting a dedication ceremony Monday morning for the nearly completed Granite City Crossing Bridge.

The new bridge replaces the DeSoto Bridge, which was torn down last March after inspectors found distorted gusset plates.

A federal investigation found undersized gusset plates were a key factor in the 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis says it's time to celebrate the end of several construction projects in the downtown area.

"We look forward to the whole project being completed and getting rid of all the orange cones and the detour signs," Kleis said. "So we are going to dedicate it Granite City Crossing and from there hopefully it will open up later in the week."

The bridge project has taken about 18 months to complete. Minnesota Department of Transportation officials say the bridge will officially open some time early next month.