of active Aboriginal occupation in this region. Hampden Bridge meets this criterion at a state level. The place has a strong or special association with a person, or group of persons, of importance of cultural or natural history of New South Wales's history. Hampden Bridge, as a major work of design and construction and a rare application of the suspension bridge principles in NSW, is strongly associated with in particular, E.M. De Burgh, eminent design engineer in NSW, who designed the bridge and has today a bridge named after him over the Lane Cove River, near Macquarie Park in Sydney. He was also responsible for the design of the Maldon suspension bridge, completed in 1903. In 1913 he was appointed chief engineer for water supply and sewerage, and was responsible for the design and construction of the Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean dams (Sydney water supply), the Chichester scheme for Newcastle and the Umberumberka scheme for Broken Hill. In 1921–25 he was a member of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee and prepared the original plans for Canberra's water supply. The bridge construction is also associated with the prominent late nineteenth century stonework and construction specialists, Loveridge and Hudson, with their company name having carried into the twentieth century. Loveridge and Hudson founded in 1882 are also notable for their quarrying and application of the rarely deposited rock, trachyte (also known as Bowral tracyhte) which was used in Hampden Bridge as well in the construction of a number of historic buildings in Sydney (for example Queen Victoria Building and Equitable Life Assurance), Canberra (for example National Library and Treasury buildings) and the Southern Highlands (for example Bowral Courthouse). Hampden Bridge meets this criterion at a state level. The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales. The bridge is a highly attractive and distinctive structure. It has outstanding landmark qualities, spanning a serpentine ravine and announcing its presence with magnificent castellated sandstone towers which are joined by an elliptically arched cross beam under which traffic passes. The structure forms a gateway to the Kangaroo Valley township and to the South Coast beyond along the road from Moss Vale. The construction of the bridge at the end of the nineteenth century was a major and technically challenging undertaking incorporating sophisticated structural engineering for its time. The early suspension bridge form is