To avoid the treacherous Chaudière Falls, the firm of Philemon Wright and Sons built a timber slide in 1829 along the Ottawa River's north shore near the waterfall known as the Little Kettle. This inclined wooden bypass channel, the first in Canada wide enough for the passage of an entire "crib" of square timber, revolutionized the trade by preventing costly delays and reducing the dangers faced by the raftsmen. The Hull slide and others like it intensified the exploitation of the rich forests of the Ottawa Valley and helped establish the region as an important centre of the Canadian timber industry.