From its highest point including its source confluence, the river descends 295 metres (968 ft) over its 160-kilometre (99 mi) course.

A weir and water race was built above the falls in 1876 to provide power for the Fyansford Paper Mill.

[15] The falls were named by John Helder Wedge[16] after escaped convict William Buckley, who lived in the area with Aborigines for 32 years from 1803.

The three span arch structure was built of bluestone by James Sinclair at a cost of £4,602 and officially opened by Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, on 3 December 1867.

The Barwon River Bridge is the third structure erected at this historic crossing place and has since 1867 provided an important link with Geelong and the Western District.

This finely proportioned masonry arch bridge, one of the most impressive stone structures in Victoria, has a notable association with Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the three times royal visitor to nearby 'Barwon Park' mansion.

A new reinforced concrete structure, located beside the bluestone bridge, partly relieves the heavy traffic loads.

Reconstruction of the bridge began in the 1910s, which replaced the timber superstructure with a new structure made of iron and steel, but retained the original bluestone piers.

[21] The twin 110-metre (360 ft) bridges, opened on 15 June 2009,[22] carries the four-lane Geelong Ring Road over the river.

To avoid flooding, the new bridge was connected to Shannon Avenue by a high level embankment, which skirts what became Balyang Sanctuary in 1973.

Constructed in 1967 to carry sewage from Geelong to the ocean outfall at Black Rock,[26] the bridge provided relief for the 1916 sewer aqueduct further downstream.

Construction started in 1988[25] and was completed in September 1990, removing heavy through traffic from the main Belmont shopping centre.

That bridge was only two lanes wide and was considered too narrow to permit the extension of trams into Belmont, so it was closed and dismantled in 1924.

The new bridge was designed by Country Roads Board engineer Donald Darwin and was opened on 18 August 1926 by Governor of Victoria, Lord Somers.

As a consequence, a number of trucks became stuck under the railway bridge, and the causeway also required frequent closure due to river flooding.

To overcome those problems, VicRoads received planning permission in 2009 to replace the low-level crossing with a new bridge about 350m upstream, at a cost of $63 million, which was completed in mid-2012.

[35] An aqueduct was constructed between 1913 and 1916 to carry sewage across the Barwon River from Geelong to an ocean outfall at Black Rock.

Of reinforced concrete construction, it was an unusual design, and is listed on the Victorian National Estate Register.

Because of falling debris, caused by the loss of calcium from the concrete used in the construction, the land and river underneath the aqueduct has been fenced to prevent public access.