Australia Day 2013

With Australia Day and the long weekend upon us, things were busy on the Barwon.
I went out for a run a little before 9am, heading down to Breakwater and back up to Princes Bridge then Moorabool St. It was definitely the morning for it as there were joggers, walkers and cyclists aplenty, not to mention a range of organised events.
Had I been a little more enthusiastic, I could have joined the weekly 5km Parkrun from Balyang Sanctuary, Landy Field was a hive of activity, hosting the Victorian Athletics Country Championships and a little upstream on the rowing mile, the crews were out for day one of the 132nd W.H. Pincott Barwon Regatta.
I survived the run, dodged the crowds and headed home to recuperate. The weather was mild and overcast with a bit of a breeze blowing, but with limited options I decided to drag out the kayaks and hit the river again - steering well clear of rowers of course!
The next item on my "to do list" was to paddle from Barwon Heads up to Tait's Point. Recent experience suggested that upstream would be the easier option, although not having to spend an indeterminate amount of time trying to find the point at which Lake Connewarre drains into the river channel for the final part of the journey to Bass Strait was also an inducement.
So, decision made, Sarah and I were deposited at Barwon Heads for an afternoon on the river. It was about an hour and a half past high tide, but there was still plenty of water flowing upstream and a fairly stiff breeze was blowing in from somewhere near the Apple Isle.

Looking back at Barwon Heads Bridge

Our decision turned out to be a good one as both wind and tide propelled us upriver in a manner that was more like surfing than paddling at times. My first discovery as we navigated through a number of mudflats and shallow sections a kilometre or two upstream was a small group of Pied Oyster-catchers who - contrary to what I have since read - were more than happy to allow me to approach relatively closely. They did however, have their limits, so I didn't get the perfect shot, but this was the first time I had seen them on the Barwon, so I took what I could get.

Pied Oyster-catchers on the mudflats at Barwon Heads

Finding the channel again once we had rounded the corner and were less at risk of being carted off into the shipping lanes of Bass Strait, we made relatively easy progress past the fishermen both in boats and on the shore.

This part of the river is quite different from the rest, being mostly a marine environment. The birds we saw were gulls, terns, stints, cormorants, swans, ducks, spoonbills - and of course the oyster-catchers. Instead of the reeds lining the channel through Reedy Lake, the gums and grassland below the Barrabool Hills or even the sub-tropical rainforest of Lake Elizabeth, there were mangroves, moonahs and extensive saltmarsh and even as far upriver as Lake Connewarre, the water is still saline.

The Barwon within the Lake Connewarre State Game Reserve

Once past the inhabited areas and into the Connewarre State Game Reserve, the land was completely flat as the saltmarsh took over from the mangroves. We hopped out for a look around at one point and snapped a few shots, but there wasn't much to be seen so we were soon on our way again.

A small "island" of Red-necked Stints

A little further along we came across a flock of Red-necked Stints, flying en masse just above the surface of the water before landing on a mudflat in the middle of the stream.

From there it was a short paddle and we were winding our way into Lake Connewarre. This was easier said than done as the river at the edge of the lake is shallow and splits around a number of small islands and mudflats.

Walking across Lake Connewarre

Once inside the lake, things didn't immediately improve and at one point, we found ourselves walking across the lake in ankle-deep water across a sandbar before we finally reached some deeper water. At this point, things became a little tiresome.

The sky had cleared and the sun was out, but the southerly had picked up a bit and made the final 2.5km of our journey somewhat of an exercise in endurance, however we made it to Tait's Point and summoned the cavalry to take us home.

Tait's Point

While we waited, we introduced ourselves to some visitors enjoying the view and then I headed around the point for a couple of quick shots before we headed home for a roast lamb dinner - it is Australia Day after all!





A bridge too far?

Naturally enough, bridges are important crossing points along any river and as I have discussed previously, the Barwon is no exception.
Once the Barwon River flows through Geelong however, there is no point of crossing until one reaches the river mouth at the towns of Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove - a distance by road of some 19-20km. In recent times, this distance was highlighted when the Barwon Heads Bridge was nominated as an available river crossing point for those in Geelong wanting to cross the river during the UCI World Cycling Championships which saw the closure of the Moorabool Street, Prince's and Queen's Park Bridges - a round trip approaching 40km just to get to the opposite side of town? Bearable for the space of a week, but not very practical on a regular basis.

Original Barwon Heads Bridge December 2009 during
reconstruction

How difficult must life have been then, for those living in Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads before the construction of the Barwon Heads Bridge?
Prior to its erection in 1927, a trip from Barwon Heads to Ocean Grove on the Bellarine Peninsula required either a boat or a round trip via Geelong on the road. In the early days a rowboat service was available and later, a motor launch. Today a trip between the two towns takes a few seconds in a car or a couple of minutes on foot. A quick swim across the river in good weather always seems like an inviting option too, however the accidental drowning of a swimmer who tried just that in 2008, showed fairly clearly that it is not a wise option. As the 26 year old swimmer attempted to cross from one bank to the other, he was caught in a strong incoming tide which created dangerous undercurrents and was unable to swim out. By the time he was rescued, he was unable to be resuscitated.
There is no question that the erection of the bridge made life safer and far more convenient for almost everyone (with one notable exception I will mention later). It can also be said however, that the bridge at Barwon Heads was a source of controversy even before its construction began.
Realising that crossing the river by boat was not adequate to the needs of growing traffic movement, various ideas were put forward to solve the problem. Whilst a bridge was the preferred option for most, it was also expensive so other, cheaper options were touted. These included a punt and in 1910 a pontoon ferry service was recommended, but was soon shelved for lack of support.
Whereas a pontoon ferry capable of carrying motor vehicles would have cost a total of about £600 in 1910, the bridge would have cost many thousands more. When a ferry was again suggested in 1925, the estimated cost had increased ten-fold. The idea was once again shelved, this time in favour of a bridge, as traffic flow - partly due to an increase in holiday makers from Melbourne - made the ferry untenable.
As a result, a call was put out for tenders, with the winning submission by Stan Patience of Gippsland to cost £10,400. The expense was to be divided between the Country Roads Board and the shires of South Barwon and Bellarine with public subscriptions providing the final £1,000. The bridge would be a timber truss structure, a little more than 300m in length.
The finished product was opened on Christmas Eve, 1927, but without the presence of construction boss Stan Patience who had died some months earlier in a workplace accident at Marshalltown Timber Yard.
Whilst most were happy to see the completion of the new bridge, for one group it spelt the end of their livelihood. Prior to 1927, Ocean Grove was home to a thriving fleet of couta boats which fished off the coast outside the heads. Unfortunately for the fleet, the erection of the bridge meant that they could no longer moor their vessels in the harbour upstream at Ocean Grove. This resulted in the fleet moving instead to new facilities below the bridge at Barwon Heads.
The bridge which still stands today, remains largely unchanged. In 1933, the timber surface was sealed with bitumen. Major repairs had to be carried out following the record flooding of 1952 then in 1961 the bridge was remodeled and in 1965 was widened, at which time the pedestrian walkway was moved to the upriver side of the bridge. Cantilever fishing platforms which were part of the original design were added back to the structure during renovations in 1998.

Newly completed road bridge at Barwon Heads

It was in this year that the ABC TV series Seachange first aired. Filmed in and around Barwon Heads, the bridge featured regularly in the show which ran until 2001. In an echo of real life, the bridge was often the focus of debate and controversy amongst the population. This was also true in real life and never more so than in 2006 when it was determined that the original bridge had reached the end of its lifespan and needed replacing.
Whilst everyone realised that something needed to be done, there was no agreement as to how the issue should be resolved. VicRoads determined upon replacing the original bridge with two new structures - a road bridge and a separate pedestrian bridge located downstream. This option was widely condemned by the local community, including such celebrity figures as cycling star Cadel Evans, forcing VicRoads to rethink their plans for a two-bridge solution.
Ultimately however, this protracted three year battle was unsuccessful and a contract was awarded to McConnell Dowell Pty Ltd in 2009 to build the two bridges. Construction began on the road bridge which replicated the style of the original and incorporated various timber components from the earlier bridge. The new bridge has 34 spans supported by 165 treated timber piles. Strength is provided by steel beams running through the structure which is over topped by a reinforced concrete deck. At 308m the new, two-laned bride is slightly longer than the original. The bridge was opened to traffic in November, 2010.

Almost completed pedestrian bridge downstream of the
reconstructed road bridge at Barwon Heads

The controversial pedestrian bridge which was constructed downstream of the road bridge opened to the public in April, 2011. At 4.5m wide, this bridge is half the width of the other and is made from 18m concrete spans, with single piers supporting each span. The piers are positioned to align with every third timber pier in the road bridge. The pedestrian bridge also incorporates fishing/viewing platforms along its length on the downstream side and a boardwalk at the Barwon Heads end with beach access, facilities for bike parking, seating and a drinking fountain which have been available to the public since June.
An official opening event is scheduled for later in the year, and true to form, there is already controversy over the naming of the bridge. A competition to choose a name has been announced with opponents claiming it should remain simply the Barwon Heads Bridge. In the past week, this issue has taken a new turn with some suggesting that following his stunning win in the Tour de France, the bridge be named after Barwon Heads resident Cadel Evans, however authorities have been quick to quash this idea and the issue if a name is yet to be resolved.

Building Bridges

Bridges are useful things, but we do tend to take them for granted. You can cross over them, jump from them, be pushed from them, fall from them and even - as I discovered - throw murdered bodies off them. When they are not there, life becomes significantly more difficult.
During the recent floods, the bridge over the Barwon at Breakwater was, as usual, out of action forcing a significant amount of traffic to use other crossings. Imagine the inconvenience then, when the only real bridge over the river - the Barwon Bridge on Moorabool Street - was swept away in the major floods of May, 1852. It had only been built in 1848.

Construction of the new bridge at Breakwater

It was not until the end of the year that the government organised a punt to carry those wishing to cross the river from one side to the other. This situation continued for another year until two more punts were rigged to form a floating pontoon, which then had to suffice until a two-lane iron bridge was built in 1859. One imagines that private vessels were also used to cross the river and that some private operators charging a fee may not have been so unhappy with the loss of the bridge as the general community.
The current bridge - widened in the 1960s and again last year to meet requirements for the International World Cycling Championships held in Geelong - was built in 1926 to allow trams to cross.
As a quick search of Wikipedia will tell you, that in addition to the Barwon Bridge there are a number of bridges crossing the Barwon along its lower reaches. There is the controversially rebuilt Barwon Heads bridge at the mouth of the Barwon, joining Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove. In addition to the Barwon Bridge, Geelong has the ovoid sewer aqueduct, the Breakwater Bridge and the rail bridge which crosses both the river and the road bridge at this point, the James Harrison Bridge, the McIntyre Bridge, the Queen's Park Bridge and even the little foot bridge which crosses the Barwon at Fyansford. Then there is the soon to be completed replacement for the Breakwater Bridge which will re-align Breakwater road and flood-proof the river crossing at that point.

John M McIntyre Bridge

Whilst not always the most aesthetically attractive examples, several of these Bridges are significant from an architectural perspective. The John M McIntyre Bridge was built in 1968 to carry sewerage across the river to Black Rock. It is a "post-tensioned, prestressed stayed girder"which at the time of its construction was an Australian first.
John M McIntyre after whom the bridge was named was the Engineer-in-chief of the Geelong Waterworks (precursor to Barwon Water) and was involved in the the construction of the West Barwon Dam and reservoirs at Bostock and Lal Lal and extension works at the Wurdee Boluc Reservoir. The bridge which bears his name also provides pedestrian access across the river and - if memory serves me correctly - makes a handy reference point on the rowing course. Word has it that once your boat reaches the "Sh*!t Bridge" you row hell for the finish line.

Queen's Park Bridge

At one time, the ovoid sewer aqueduct served the same purpose. It is an architecturally important structure, built over three years between 1913 and 1916 which I think I have discussed in a previous post. Its 14 reinforced concrete cantilever spans however, are in a crumbling state despite the structure being listed on the Victorian National Estate Register and access to and thoroughfare under the aqueduct is prohibited. The pipe was decommissioned in 1993 and its eventual fate still hangs in the balance.
The Queen's Park Bridge is another historically significant bridge across the Barwon. The present single-lane steel structure dates to 1930. The site was initially serviced by a punt and was used as a cattle crossing with a wooden bridge built for the purpose in 1861. This was twice washed away in floods, first in 1870 and again in 1909. Purely functional are the new twin bridges which cross the river to the west of town. They were built in 2009 as part of the Geelong Ring Road which allows coastal traffic to avoid the congestion of local roads through the city.
Likewise, the James Harrison Bridge which crosses the river just upstream from the original Barwon Bridge, is designed purely for road traffic. Although this does not stop it being taken over for an hour or two on the third Sunday in November by the several hundred runners who have for the past two years completed the "Run Geelong" fun run event.

Pollocksford Bridge

Then of course, there is the Princes Bridge which appears to be the favoured point from which to dump the bodies of murder victims as I have noted previously. The present bridge is the third structure to stand near this site. The previous two, located a little further downstream, were named for Queen Victoria's husband Albert, the Prince Consort. The initial timber structure was built the year after Albert's death, in 1861. A second bridge with the same name was erected in 1889 to replace the first which was in a poor state of repair. This in turn was extensively repaired in 1959 and then replaced with the present bridge in 1965.
Once out of Geelong,  the bridges become more widely spaced. Heading further upstream, the first is the Merrawarp Road Bridge and then the Pollocksford Bridge - a five span bluestone bridge built in 1859. The next crossing point is on the Inverleigh-Winchelsea Road just out side of Inverleigh, near the confluence of the Leigh and Barwon Rivers.

Winchelsea Bridge

Possibly the most picturesque bridge across the Barwon is the bluestone Barwon River Bridge, built in 1867 to replace two previous timber structures. This bridge was replicated in later years with a prestressed concrete structure being built slightly downstream of the first.
Other bridge crossings I have yet to investigate include the Winchelsea-Deans Marsh Road which appears to cross a shallow stretch of the river at a natural ford, Kildean Lane and Conn's Lane. Another road bridge lies just outside of Birregurra on the Birregurra-Deans Marsh Road, then one on the Colac-Murroon Road and Dewing's Bridge Road. All appear to be modern concrete structures of little aesthetic interest.
At this point I become somewhat confused, but know of at least one more bridge just past Barwon Downs and another on the outskirts of the township of Forrest, below the West Barwon Dam. Then finally, at the base of the dam is a little foot bridge designed for pedestrian access.
In general it would seem that most of the bridges over the Barwon have been built for function rather than appearance, however several have long histories which tie in with the story of Geelong and the farming communities through which the river flows.