Minister for Works, James Henry Young, MP before a crowd of 400 people. He was accompanied by Robert R. P. Hickson, Engineer-in-Chief and Ernest De Burgh, bridge designer. The Minister in his opening speech remarked that he "might go over the great Australian continent, and would find nothing equal of it". The bridge was named after Lord Hampden, Governor of New South Wales from 1895 to 1899. Total construction cost of the bridge was A£8,382. In 1987 the bridge was declared as one of fifty most historic bridges in NSW. Description A well-known local tourist attraction, Hampden Bridge carries Moss Vale Road (B73) across the Kangaroo River in the picturesque Kangaroo Valley, southwest of Sydney. The bridge is located in an undulating river valley terrain, with a sheer sandstone face on its northern side and sandy inclined riverbank on the southern side. The river flows westward under the bridge. The bridge features four large Victorian Gothic Revival crenellated turrets made of locally quarried sandstone. This elaborate form, and the relatively sophisticated structural design of the span, reflect the importance of this river crossing at the time of construction: the Cambewarra Road (now the Moss Vale Road) was then a major route from Sydney to the south coast of NSW. The deck is stiffened by timber side trusses which are hinged at midspan. The bridge, with a clear main span of , a sag in the cables of , sandstone tower height of and height above water also of , is an impressive structure in the local landscape and has been a landmark icon of the region for more than 100 years. The bridge is a single lane for vehicular traffic, with two narrow pedestrian walkways; with a maximum truck load of , and no more than one truck on the bridge at a time. Hampden Bridge is the only surviving suspension bridge from the colonial period in New South Wales; and is the oldest and only timber suspension bridge still carrying vehicular traffic still in operation within Australia. In 2012 the bridge underwent a major A$3 million renovation by Roads & Maritime Services, after many years of lobbying by local resident Bruce Ramsay, who agitated for the preservation of this iconic structure. Towers and abutments The towers, constructed mainly from sandstone quarried on the site are of Victorian Gothic style, similar to the (former) suspension bridge at Northbridge in Sydney.