One of Saimaa’s main water traffic routes runs through Puumalansalmi and it is crossed by Finland’s fourth longest road bridge. The bridge is almost 800m in length and the top of the bridge deck is 31m above the surface of Saimaa. There is also a scenic lift at the bridge, and a scenic café at the upper lift station on the deck. Saimaa’s labyrinthine features are clearly visible from the bridge. The shape of Saimaa is influenced by bedrock fault and fracture zones, where the bedrock is more fragmented than in the surrounding area. During the ice age, the continental ice sheet eroded and transported rock material from these fragmented zones, which made them deeper than the surrounding environment. Nowadays many of these fault and fracture zones are underwater.