Barwon River (Victoria)

Barwon River
Physical characteristics
Mouth	38.2821°S 144.4964°E / -38.2821; 144.4964
Length

The Barwon River rises in the Otway Ranges of Victoria, Australia, runs through Winchelsea and the city of Geelong, where it is joined by the Moorabool River, and enters the sea at Barwon Heads after passing through Lake Connewarre on the Bellarine Peninsula. The estuarine section of the river forms part of the Port Phillip (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site as a wetland of international importance.

The river is crossed by a number of bridges in Geelong. Of particular note is the unusual one lane truss bridge in Newtown, Geelong. The 'Breakwater' in East Geelong was constructed by Foster Fyans to supply drinking water.

Water from the river feeds agriculture and industry. The river is a popular recreation spot for Geelong, with parklands such as Balyang Sanctuary along the banks, and sees use by water skiers and rowing regatti such as Head of the River.

Towns

Map of the Bellarine Peninsula showing the barwon river as it flows into Bass Strait

Towns the river flows through include:

• Forrest
• Barwon Downs
• Birregurra
• Winchelsea
• Inverleigh
• Geelong
• Ocean Grove
• Barwon Heads

Tributaries

• Leigh River / Yarrowee River, at Inverleigh
• Moorabool River, at Fyansford

Highton/Newtown

Dams and weirs

Ordered upstream to downstream

West Barwon Dam

The West Barwon Dam was constructed near Forrest in 1965 by what is now Barwon Water. The dam is now the major water supply for Geelong.

Buckley's Falls

The weir above Buckley's Falls, looking downstream

Buckley's Falls is located between Highton and Fyansford. A weir and water race was built above the falls in 1876 to provide power for the Fyansford Paper Mill. The falls were named by John Helder Wedge after escaped convict William Buckley who lived in the area with Aborigines for 32 years from 1803.

The 'Breakwater'

The 'Breakwater' is located in the current Geelong suburb of the same name. Originally built to prevent salt water moving upstream, it now keeps the river level through Geelong constant and is an important crossing point.

Construction on the weir started in late 1838 under Captain Foster Fyans and was completed by May 1840. Built by convicts, the weir failed in flood in 1844, not being fully rebuilt until 1849. Little changed to the breakwater until it was rebuilt by the Country Roads Board for modern traffic in the mid 1960s.

Barrage

A second weir was built over the Barwon River further downstream. Located near where the river enters Lake Connewarre, the barrage again keeps water levels constant upstream for waterskiiers, and prevents saltwater moving upstream into Reedy Lake.

Bridges

Ordered upstream to downstream

Geelong Ring Road

The Geelong Ring Road bridge carries four lanes of freeway over the river. It is made up of twin 110 metre long bridges, and was completed in 2009.

Queens Bridge

The one lane Queens Park Bridge

The one lane Queens Bridge carries Queens Park Road which links Highton and Newtown.

The bridge was first the site of a punt, with a wooden cattle crossing not being built until 1861, with those crossing a bridge being charged a toll. The bridge collapsed in the 1870 flood, with a new wooden bridge opened in 1872. The toll ended 1877. The bridge remained until wrecked by the 1909 flood, but was rebuilt.

The current one lane steel bridge was built in 1930, a water main and footpath being added to the side in 1963, and the height and deck modified in later years. The bridge is still in use today.

Princes Bridge

The current Princes Bridge

The two lane Princes Bridge carries Shannon Avenue between Belmont and Newtown. It is the third bridge on the site, the previous ones being named after Prince Albert.

A bridge was first proposed for the site in the 1850s as a second Barwon crossing in Geelong. At the time many wanted the bridge to be located at end of Pakington Street instead, but they were defeated.

The wooden 'Prince Albert Bridge' was constructed by the City of Newtown in 1861, it was named after Queen Victoria's consort who died the year before. The bridge was originally not tolled, and provided competition for the Barwon Bridge on Moorabool Street, that was tolled by the South Barwon Shire. As a result, the shire erected a fence across new bridge to prevent people from using it,with the fence being removed several times by an unknown party until a guard was placed. At the same time, the Newtown and Chilwell Council decided to erect their own toll gate at the new bridge, with the South Barwon council retaliating by erecting their own 'check toll' gate on its side of the river. Soon afterwards Newtown and Chilwell councillors refused to pay the toll, the toll remaining for another year.

The bridge became dilapidated, with a tender accepted in June 1888 for the construction of a replacement. Provided with separated lanes, the new wooden bridge was opened on May 31 1889. This bridge remained until 1959, when extensive repairs were carried out to handle much heavier traffic from the expansion of Highton.

The current steel girder bridge was opened in June 1965 upstream of older bridges. The new bridge was connected to Shannon Avenue by a high level embankment to avoid flooding, which skirted what became Balyang Sanctuary.

McIntyre Bridge

Cable stayed McIntyre footridge

The 192 metre long McIntyre Bridge is located to the east of the James Harrison Bridge, and has a concrete walkway and pipe supported with steel cable stays. Constructed in 1967 to carry sewage from Geelong to the ocean outfall at Black Rock, the bridge provided relief for the 1916 sewer aqueduct further downstream. The bridge designed by J.L. van der Molen, and was one of the first in Australia to use computer engineering in the design process.

James Harrison Bridge

James Harrison bridge over the Barwon

The four lane James Harrison Bridge carries the Princes Highway though Geelong. Construction started in 1988 and was completed in 1990, removing heavy through traffic from the main Belmont shopping centre. Consisting of twin parallel two lane bridges, The main river span is of concrete cantilever design, with a number of smaller concrete box girder spans completing the viaduct to the south. The bridge was named after Geelong engineer and refrigeration pioneer James Harrison.

Barwon Bridge

Barwon Bridge today from the north bank

The four lane Barwon Bridge carries Moorabool Street over the river, and is located on the site of the first Barwon crossing.

The first wooden bridge opened early in 1848. Tolled by the South Barwon council, 4 years later it was swept away in a massive flood on May 23 1852. From December that year a government punt operated at the site. By late 1853 two government punts were used to form a pontoon bridge. It was not until 1859 that a proper iron bridge was opened as a replacement. The bridge was narrow, and was only two lanes wide. The old iron bridge was too narrow to permit the extension of trams into Belmont, so was dismantled 1924.

The new bridge was designed by Country Roads Board engineer D V Darwin and opened on August 18, 1926 by Governor of Victoria Lord Sommers. Of concrete and steel girder construction, it was built by Armstrong Whitworth Pty Ltd, it cost 73900 pounds ($147800) to build. The 1926 bridge was widened to four lanes in 1966 with the addition to each side of the deck.

Breakwater Bridge

V/Line train crossing the Breakwater Bridge

The original Breakwater Bridge was a ford running on top of the breakwater.

A timber trestle railway bridge was built over the top in 1876 when the Geelong railway line was extended to Winchelsea. This bridge was replaced by a concrete and steel girder bridge in the 1960s, but the remains of the wooden supports are still visible today.

The current road bridge was built by the Country Roads Board in the mid 1960s. This bridge has a low 3.7 metre clearance underneath the railway viaduct and is close to the water, resulting in a number of stuck trucks and frequent closure due to river flooding. In 2009 VicRoads received planning permission to replace the existing road crossing with a new high level bridge further upstream to eliminate these issues, at a cost of $63 million with completion due in mid 2012.

Sewer Aqueduct

Decommissioned Sewer Aqueduct, 2007

A sewage aqueduct was constructed between 1913 and 1916 to carry sewage from Geelong to an ocean outfall at Black Rock. Of reinforced concrete construction, is a structure of extraordinary design and listed on the Victorian National Estate Register. The designer was an engineer Edward Giles Stone who erected many daring structures in reinforced concrete. It has 14 cantilever spans covering more than 760 metres. The viaduct was decommissioned in 1993, with the land and river underneath fenced off from public access due to falling debris, the deterioration due to the loss of calcium from its concrete. The replacement for the sewer was a pump-boosted gravity system.

Barwon Heads Bridge

See also: Barwon Heads, Victoria

The Barwon Heads Bridge

The present twin lane wooden bridge between Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove was built in 1927. Before this time a ferry ran by Tom Abernathy operated across the mount of the Barwon. The bridge was used in filming the ABC television series SeaChange.

In July 2006, the Government of Victoria shelved plans to replace the heritage-listed bridge with a new one, with plans put forward for an upgraded to be carried out instead.