Carries Moss Vale Road (B73) Design Suspension bridge Constructed by Loveridge and Hudson Total length 77 m Phone +61 13 15 55 | Crosses Kangaroo River Width 18 feet (5.5 m) Opened 19 May 1898 Location Kangaroo Valley | |
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Locale Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales, Australia Address Moss Vale Rd, Kangaroo Valley NSW 2577, Australia Similar Pioneer Village Museum, Tallowa Dam, Kangaroo Valley Tourist P, Morton National Park, Pigeon House Mountain | ||
Hampden Bridge is a suspension bridge across the Kangaroo River, located in the town of Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales, Australia. It is named after Lord Hampden, Governor of New South Wales from 1895 to 1899.
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It is one of few suspension bridges in Australia.
History
Hampden Bridge was designed by Ernest Macartney de Burgh, the colony's Assistant Engineer for Bridges, to replace the decaying timber truss bridge which originally spanned the Kangaroo River. The bridge was opened on the 19 May 1898, just six days before floods washed the old bridge away. Construction was by Thomas Loveridge and Herbert Hudson and began in 1895. At the conclusion they formed a partnership, Loveridge and Hudson.
A public holiday was declared in Kangaroo Valley for the bridge opening. The bridge was opened by the Minister for Public Works, J.H. Young.
Description
A well-known local tourist attraction, Hampden Bridge features four large crenellated turrets made of locally quarried sandstone. It is 252 feet (76.8 m) and one lane wide. The bridge forms part of the Moss Vale Road. 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.
The bridge's medieval tower style is an example of the Gothic Revival architecture popular in late nineteenth-century Australia. 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.
In 2012 the bridge underwent a major A$3 million renovation by Roads and Maritime Services, after many years of lobbying by local resident Bruce Ramsay, who agitated for the preservation of this iconic structure.