Sandy Blight Junction Road

Sandy Blight Junction Road
map
Basic data
Operator:	NT Roads , Main Roads
Start of the street:	Great Central Road Gunbarrel Highway Warrakurna Road House ( WA ) ( 25 ° 3 '  S , 128 ° 18'  O )
End of street:	Gary Junction Road Sandy Blight Junction ( NT ) ( 23 ° 12 ′  S , 129 ° 39 ′  E )
Overall length:	408 km
States :	Western Australia Northern Territory

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

The Sandy Blight Junction Road is an unpaved outback road in the far east of the Australian state of Western Australia and in the far west of the adjacent Northern Territory . It connects the Great Central Road at Warakurna Roadhouse with Gary Junction Road in Sandy Blight Junction , about 16 miles east of Kintore . The first 77 km from the Warakurna Roadhouse run parallel to the Great Central Road.

history

Like many other outback tracks, Sandy Blight Junction Road was built by Len Beadell in the 1960s . He and his Gunbarrel Road Construction Party took him about six months to build . Towards the end of the construction work, Len Beadell fell ill with trachoma ( Sandy Blight ), which gave the street its name. Many of his markings and signs on the roadside are still in their original form today.

course

Western Australia

From the Warrakurna Roadhouse , the road and Great Central Road initially lead 29 km to the southeast. There the Gunbarrel Highway branches off to the south, and the Great Central Road runs 48 km to the northeast, crossing the Giles River . At this point the two roads separate: The Great Central Road runs east into the Northern Territory , while the Sandy Blight Junction Road turns north to the Docker River , whose southwest bank it follows to the source. Then the track turns again to the north and northeast through the Gibson Desert and after about 120 km crosses the border into the Northern Territory.

Northern Territory

Road course at Mount Leisler, Northern Territory

The last 100 km the road covers first directly to the east and then to the north and reaches the Gary Junction Road at Sandy Blight Junction , approx. 57 km east of the border.

The highest point along the slope is at 622 m, the lowest at 432 m.

Road conditions and gas stations

The road conditions are very different, some sections are consistently firm and easy to drive on, while others are characterized by deep, loose sand or stony sections. Sections as washboard slopes ( corrugations ) are also typical here . A four-wheel drive vehicle is required to drive on the slope .

There are petrol stations on this slope only at the beginning in the Warrakurna Roadhouse. Other accessible petrol stations are on the Great Central Road immediately across the border into the Northern Territory in Kaltukatjara (Docker River) and on Gary Junction Road in Kintore.

The route crosses Aboriginal reservations, and travelers need three permits (Permit) , which are available free of charge from the Department of Indigenous Affairs.

source

Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing. Archerfield QLD 2007. ISBN 978-1-74193-232-4 . Pp. 90, 91, 100

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Australia Easy Read - Road and 4WD Atlas . Hema Maps, Brisbane 2007, ISBN 978-1-86500-395-5 .
2. ^ Sandy Blight Junction Road at www.ExplorOz.com ( English ) Retrieved April 12, 2009.
3. ↑ maps.bonzle.com - Sandy Blight Junction Road . Retrieved April 19, 2012.
4. ↑ Permit request (English)