This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. The following text is from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. DESCRIPTION: Before 1868 ferries were used to transport people and their goods across the Clutha River at Balclutha. In that year, however, the first bridge across the river was erected by John Turnbull Thomson, Chief Surveyor of Otago. This structure was severely damaged by flooding ten years later and was subsequently replaced in 1881 by a second bridge which stood approximately forty-six metres upstream from the present bridge. The second Balclutha bridge was beginning to show signs of wear by the late 1920s and the proposal to build a new bridge was first considered in 1928, two years before a load restriction on the bridge was introduced. Initially the Main Highways Board proposed the construction of a steel truss bridge with reinforced concrete decking which was to have cost approximately £58,000. However, before construction could begin the merits of reinforced concrete bowstring arch bridges had become apparent to William Newnham and the bridge was therefore redesigned. Tenders for its erection were called in October 1932 and W Williamson of Christchurch was the successful tenderer, with a contract price of £39,379. In New Zealand the low erection and maintenance costs of reinforced concrete bowstring arch bridges were major factors in their popularity with the Public Works Department, who built a number of such bridges for the Main Highways Board in the early 1930s. The bridges at Tuakau and Mangatainoka, and the Fitzherbert Bridge over the Manawatu River at Palmerston North, were all contemporary with the Balclutha Bridge and of similar design. Built from reinforced concrete, in accordance to Main Highways Board policy which called for bridge renewal to be carried out in this medium wherever possible, these bridges were also cheaper to built than steel bridges of the same size and loading because New Zealand was reliant on imported steel in the 1930s whereas all the components of concrete were available locally. Work began on the new bridge in January 1933 and up to eighty men worked on its erection at any one time. Two timber truss spans were built to support the formwork which created each arch rib and these were reused once the concrete had been poured and then allowed to harden for a month. The ribs subsequently carried the load of further construction and the quality of the concrete used for every component of the bridge was monitored by a laboratory which was specially installed at the bridge site. The curved approaches were built by another contractor at a cost of œ1,492 and the entire structure was jointly financed by the Main Highways Board, the Balclutha Borough Council, the Bruce County Council, and the Clutha County Council. The Balclutha Bridge was officially opened on 6 April 1935 by the Minister of Public Works, the Hon J Bitchener, and a special souvenir booklet was published at that time to mark the occasion.

This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. The following text is from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Spanning the Clutha River within the South Otago township of Balclutha, this six span bowstring arch bridge is 8.7 metres wide, 244 metres in length, excluding the curved approaches at both ends, and approximately 10,660 tons in weight. The bridge superstructure rests upon abutments and five cylinder type piers, of which the three northernmost are sunk to solid rock whilst the two southern piers rest upon broad floating foundations of compact sand. Each span is 36.6 metres long and is made up of two arched ribs, rising in a parabolic curve to nearly 9.2 metres above the deck and braced against wind pressure by four stiff struts. Hangers from each rib support the deck which tapers in thickness from twenty-eight centimetres at the centre to twenty-three centimetres at the curbs. One end of each span is fixed, whilst the other rests upon combined roller and rocker bearings to accommodate movement caused by the expansion and contraction of the bridge at different temperatures. Steel plates bridge the gap between each span on the roadway and a piece of T-steel fulfills the same function on the footways. The latter are cantilevered out from the transoms which run beneath the deck and serve to transfer its load to the hangars and thence to the ribs of each bowstring arch. The footways are lit by cast-iron lamps which stand on alternate piers on either side of the bridge and they are flanked by precast concrete balustrades. The bridge is constructed from Australian steel and New Zealand-made cement mixed with aggregates from the Clutha River. In addition to serving as a motor vehicle and pedestrian bridge it also carries Balclutha's phone and power lines, and the water mains.