Gunbarrel Highway

For the Midnight Oil song, see Diesel and Dust.

Gunbarrel Highway Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia
The highway looks like a gun barrel in some places
Length	1400 km (870 mi)
From	Amata Road, Victory Downs Homestead (25°59′S 132°58′E)
To	Carnegie Homestead (25°47′S 122°58′E)
Region	Central Australia, Gibson Desert
Permits	3 required
Fuel supply	Wiluna (26°36′S 120°14′E), Carnegie, Warburton (26°13′S 126°39′E), and Warakurna Roadhouse.

Sign at Wiluna, Western Australia.

The Gunbarrel Highway is an isolated desert track in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. It consists of about 1,400 km (870 mi) of washaways, heavy corrugations, stone, sand and flood plains. The Gunbarrel Highway connects Victory Downs, just north of the Northern Territory/South Australia border to Carnegie Station in Western Australia (this is the direction the road was constructed). Some sources also incorrectly show the highway extending west to Wiluna.

The route passes directly into Aboriginal Reserves and it is a legal requirement for travellers to hold a valid Transit Permit at the time of travel. Three permits are required and they are available from the Department of Indigenous Affairs. The permits are free. Some of the eastern section of the road is now named the Tjukaruru Road for the Aboriginal people who live in this area.

The Gunbarrel Highway was built as part of Australia's role in the weapons research establishment called Woomera which included Emu Field and Maralinga, both atomic bomb testing sites. Construction began in 1955 and was finally completed on 15 November 1958 when the road reached Carnegie.

The highway was surveyed and constructed under the direction of legendary bushman Len Beadell, who was responsible for numerous other roads in Australia that opened up some of the most remote desert areas of the continent in the 1950s and 1960s. Its name comes from Beadell's Gunbarrel Road Construction Party so named as his intention was to build roads as straight as a gunbarrel. This was only sporadically achieved however, due to the nature and variety of terrain through which the roads passed.

By any standard, this is a long and tough haul through very remote territory. Its isolation requires travellers to be totally self-sufficient with water, food and fuel (the longest distance between fuel outlets is 489 km, between Warburton and Carnegie Station.)

Part of the highway between Warburton and Warakurna (near Giles) is now known as the Old Gunbarrel Highway, and is no longer maintained due to the construction of the more direct route, the Great Central Road.

See also

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in the Northern Territory
• List of highways in South Australia
• List of highways in Western Australia

External links

• Gunbarrel Highway (Wikitravel)
• Gunbarrel Highway in Western Australia (ExplorOz)
• Department of Indigenous Affairs.