Pakenham Bridge

[1] The bridge was built in 1903 by O'Toole & Keating, Scottish masons from Ottawa, for a cost of $14,500.

As a result of local pressure to preserve it, the bridge was never replaced with a newer one and restored in 1984.

At that time, the bridge was also strengthened with reinforced concrete to accommodate car and truck traffic.

[1] With a parking lot and rapids right at the bridge, it is a popular picnic spot.

Here the Mississippi River drops a few meters over a wide cascade with exposed bedrock, but below the rapids there is a strong undertow that has claimed several lives.