The Waianakarua River Road Bridge (South Branch) is located on State Highway 1 between Hampden and Ōamaru and was completed in 1869. It is the first of two bridges spanning the river and was designed by Otago Provincial Engineer John Turnbull Thomson (1821–1884). The bridge is historically significant because of its association with Thomson, who was responsible for surveying Otago and designed many towns, roads, and bridges from Dunedin. Notably, this is the oldest bridge in the State Highway 1 system and was constructed from locally quarried Kakanui stone; the quarry was part of the Totara estate. The Waianakarua River was an important resource for Kāi Tahu. It was a Kāinga Nohoanga and a Kāinga Mahingja Kai. For the settlers, the southern branch of the river was known as the Rookery River in the 1860s due to the large number of shags inhabiting the area, while the upper branch was called the Ōtepopo. The road to the north was