Sandover Highway

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Sandover Highway
Northern Territory
Sandover Highway route map.png
Map of central Australia with Sandover Highway (State Route 14) highlighted in red
Coordinates
General information
Type Track
Length 561 km (349 mi)
Route number(s) Australian state route 14.svg State Route 14
Major junctions
Southwest endAustralian state route 12.svg Plenty Highway
Northeast end Lake Nash,
NT/Qld Border
Location(s)
Region Urapuntja
Restrictions
Fuel supply
Facilities Arlparra, Ammaroo Station

The Sandover Highway is an outback unsealed track in the Northern Territory between the Plenty Highway north of Alice Springs and the Northern Territory/Queensland border.

Northern Territory federal territory of Australia

The Northern Territory is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. It shares borders with Western Australia to the west, South Australia to the south, and Queensland to the east. To the north, the territory looks out to the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea and the Gulf of Carpentaria, including Western New Guinea and other Indonesian islands. The NT covers 1,349,129 square kilometres (520,902 sq mi), making it the third-largest Australian federal division, and the 11th-largest country subdivision in the world. It is sparsely populated, with a population of only 246,700, making it the least-populous of Australia's eight states and major territories, with fewer than half as many people as Tasmania.

Plenty Highway track in the Northern Territory

The Plenty Highway is a 498 kilometre outback mostly unsealed road in the Northern Territory between the Stuart Highway and north-western Queensland.

Alice Springs Town in the Northern Territory, Australia

Alice Springs is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Popularly known as "the Alice" or simply "Alice", Alice Springs is situated roughly in Australia's geographic centre.

At its western end the road branches north from the Plenty Highway 27 km east of the Stuart Highway. Its total length is 561 kilometres and it passes through semi-arid spinifex deserts and blacksoil Mitchell grass plains. The designated highway finishes near Lake Nash, just east of Alpurrurulam, on the Northern Territory/Queensland border, but the track continues into Queensland for 55 km where it joins the Camooweal Urandangi Road, which runs north to Camooweal. [1]

Stuart Highway highway in the Northern Territory and South Australia

Stuart Highway is one of Australia's major highways. It runs from Darwin, Northern Territory, in the north, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta, South Australia, in the south – a distance of 2,834 km (1,761 mi). Its northern and southern extremities are segments of Australia's Highway 1. The principal north-south route through the central interior of mainland Australia, the highway is often referred to simply as "The Track".

Alpurrurulam, Northern Territory Town in the Northern Territory, Australia

Alpurrurulam, also known as Lake Nash, is a small town in the Northern Territory, Australia, 600 km east of Tennant Creek and 17 km from the NT–Queensland border.

The track crosses Urapuntja Aboriginal lands. No permits are needed to travel on the track, however, they are necessary for travellers wishing to visit Aboriginal communities off-track.

Ammaroo Station has a shop with basic supplies. Fuel is available but there are no camping facilities. [2] Another fuel supply along the track can be found at Arlparra.

Although the first part of the track can be negotiated by conventional vehicles, use of a four-wheel drive vehicle is recommended after Ammaroo. Each year the wet season floods the eastern end of the Sandover Highway and Alpurrurulam/Lash Nash becomes completely inaccessible. Not even a four-wheel drive vehicle will be able to get through the flooded black soil plains. Flooding can also occur after brief but heavy thunderstorms during the dry season. Tourists are advised to use alternative main routes.

Four-wheel drive type of drivetrain with four driven wheels

Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case providing an additional output drive-shaft and, in many instances, additional gear ranges.

See also

Australia road sign W5-29.svg Australian Roadsportal

Highways in Australia describes the highways of Australia

Highways in Australia are generally high capacity roads managed by state and territory government agencies, though Australia's federal government contributes funding for important links between capital cities and major regional centres. Prior to European settlement, the earliest needs for trade and travel were met by narrow bush tracks, used by tribes of Indigenous Australians. The formal construction of roads began in 1788, after the founding of the colony of New South Wales, and a network of three major roads across the colony emerged by the 1820s. Similar road networks were established in the other colonies of Australia. Road construction programs in the early 19th century were generally underfunded, as they were dependent on government budgets, loans, and tolls; while there was a huge increase in road usage, due to the Australian gold rushes. Local government authorities, often known as Road Boards, were therefore established to be primarily responsible for funding and undertaking road construction and maintenance. The early 1900s saw both the increasingly widespread use of motorised transportation, and the creation of state road authorities in each state, between 1913 and 1926. These authorities managed each state's road network, with the main arterial roads controlled and maintained by the state, and other roads remaining the responsibility of local governments. The federal government became involved in road funding in the 1920s, distributing funding to the states. The depression of the 1930s slowed the funding and development of the major road network until the onset on World War II. Supply roads leading to the north of the country were considered vital, resulting in the construction of Barkly, Stuart, and Eyre Highways.

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References

  1. ↑ Hema, Maps (2005). Australia’s Great Desert Tracks NE Sheet (Map). Eight Mile Plains Queensland: Hema Maps. ISBN   978-1-86500-160-9.
  2. ↑ Weir, Stewart owner of Sandover Pastoral Company, 26 February 2015


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