History
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Background[edit]
Edward John Eyre's expeditions, including along the coastline of the Great Australian Bight and the Nullarbor Plain
In 1840–1841, Edward John Eyre was the first European to traverse the coastline of the Great Australian Bight and the Nullarbor Plain by land, on an almost 2,000-mile (3,200 km) trip from Adelaide to Albany, Western Australia.
Three decades later, the East–West Telegraph line was installed. Constructed between 1875 and 1877, it followed the same route across the Nullarbor and along the Great Australian Bight, after John Forrest retraced Eyre's route in 1870 and confirmed its suitability. Repeater stations were installed at Port Lincoln, Streaky Bay, Smoky Bay, Fowlers Bay, Eucla, Israelite Bay, Esperance and Bremer Bay. Stations were later added at Franklin Harbour (Cowell) in 1885, Yardea in 1896 and Balladonia in 1897.
From 1912 to 1917 an inland route across the Nullarbor was established with the construction of the Trans-Australian Railway, from Port Augusta via Tarcoola to Kalgoorlie. With few roads or tracks encountering the line, most of it is only accessible by rail.
Highway planning and construction[edit]
The trail heading west to Ceduna in 1929
The construction of the telegraph had resulted in a trail that could be followed for interstate travel, but it was a haphazard route which only the more adventurous motorists would take.: 93  Many travellers were unprepared for the harsh conditions and lack of services. They would cause a nuisance for station owners and other travellers by scrounging petrol, contaminating water supplies, leaving gates open, and committing acts of vandalism.
In 1938 the Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia (RAC) called for a national highway to be constructed by the federal government, as it would be a strategic defence road, provide another link between Western Australia and other states, and improve the tourist experience. The federal government did not see the road as important enough for its involvement.
In May 1941, following the construction of the central north–south Stuart Highway, the federal government announced its decision to build the east–west highway between Norseman and Port Augusta. A northerly route, close to the Trans-Australian Railway, had been considered, but extensive limestone outcrops made it impractical. Taking a route east from Norseman, with some detours around limestone ridges, would allow a road to be formed quickly and easily. With a war in the Pacific seemingly imminent, construction began in July 1941. The Army was responsible for fuel, food, and communications, while the state government departments of Main Roads (Western Australia) and Highways (South Australia) managed the construction.: 93–96 
The Madura Pass section in 1941, before (top) and after (bottom) construction
The road was completed in June 1942. Construction cost twice the initial £125,000 estimate over a period of four months.: 95–96  The road was sufficiently trafficable and in use by January 1942. The finished road, while an improvement over the previous route, still was not much more than a track. The only sections with a bitumen surface were the Madura and Eucla Passes. The formed width was 30 feet (9 m), with some sections lightly gravelled over a 16-foot (4.9 m) width.: 96 
By the middle of the century, several water tanks with up to 44,000 imperial gallons (200,000 L; 53,000 US gal) capacity were located alongside the highway, including at Madura Pass, Moonera, Cocklebiddy, and 28 miles (45 km) east of Mundrabilla. In some cases the tanks were accompanied by amenity such as a shed, or a hut and stove, or even petrol and cafes at Ivy Tanks. The establishment of Ivy Tanks in any form was being lost by the 1980s.
Naming[edit]
In the 1930s and 1940s, the Western Australian Nomenclature Advisory Committee had been choosing directional names for the state's main arterial roads, such as Great Eastern Highway. The South Australian Highways Department had been naming the major roads to other states after explorers, such as Flinders Highway, named after Matthew Flinders. In 1938, the historical memorials committee of the Royal Geographical Society in South Australia was disappointed that no road had been named after Eyre, despite its suggestion that the road from Port Augusta towards Perth should be Eyre Highway. In the same year, the RAC suggested that the proposed new highway be named Forrest Highway, after John Forrest. The Assistant Minister for Commerce, Senator Macdonald, concurred.
On 21 January 1942, Prime Minister John Curtin announced the war cabinet decision to name the newly constructed road Forrest Highway, for military purposes. Separately, the states' nomenclature committees were considering names for the road. A proposal for a single name to be used in both states was put by the Western Australian committee to the South Australian committee when the highway was completed. Two names were suggested: Great Western Highway, in line with similar directional names in Western Australia, and Eyre Highway, after the explorer. After several communications between the committees, both decided to use the name Eyre Highway. After receiving a letter from the South Australian Premier in May 1943, supporting the nomenclature committee's recommendation, Curtin agreed to the name, subject to approval from the Western Australian government.
The South Australian section was named Eyre Highway on 20 May 1943, with the portion from Murat Bay (Ceduna) to the state border declared a main road. Eyre Highway was gazetted in Western Australia on 11 June 1943, and included the road from Coolgardie to Norseman until Coolgardie–Esperance Highway was gazetted on 16 August 1957.
Sealing[edit]
A sealed surface at the west end of "90 Mile Straight", looking east
The state of Eyre Highway remained relatively unchanged throughout the 1940s and 1950s. The road received yearly maintenance, but further, more expensive works were not warranted due to the low traffic volume of approximately fourteen vehicles per day.: 152–153  The maintenance and grading was hindered by a lack of rainfall – the road was smoothed out each year, and small sections were gravelled, but the soil the road was made from was too weak to be an effective road surface.: 186–7  When it did rain, even in small amounts, the road would become boggy, from patches that had broken down into a powdery substance, known as "bulldust", during dry periods.: 223  Large numbers of vehicles travelling the highway in 1962, for the Commonwealth Games in Perth, damaged the road in numerous locations, and the lack of moisture required salt water to be pumped from 350 feet (110 m) below the surface for use in repairs and maintenance.: 186–7 
Work to seal Eyre Highway was undertaken in the 1960s and 1970s. As the federal government refused requests from Western Australia and South Australia for a special allocation to fund the sealed road, the work was left for the states to finance, over a number of years.: 223  Construction began in 1960, at the Norseman end. By the end of that year five miles (8 km) had been reconstructed, and was ready to be sealed over a 20-foot (6 m) width. Fourteen miles (23 km) were sealed in 1961, another 67 miles (108 km) were completed by 1963, and in 1964 the seal reached 111 miles (179 km) out from Norseman.: 187  By the mid-1960s, approximately 60 miles (100 km) were being sealed each year. With increased priority given to the project from 1966, Western Australia's portion of the highway was completed in 1969, with a ceremony held in Eucla on 17 October.: 223–225 
The Great Australian Bight is a short detour away at several places along the highway
In South Australia, a decade-long program to seal the highway began in the mid-1960s. The first section completed was the 462-kilometre (287 mi) route between Port Augusta and Ceduna, in December 1967. In October 1972 the Ceduna to Penong seal was completed. The final link to be sealed, between Penong and the state border, was completed with a ceremony held in September 1976 near Wigunda Tank, South Australia.
Between Yalata and the state border, the highway was realigned and deviated considerably from the original unsealed route. In deciding the new alignment for the South Australian section of the highway between Yalata and the state border, long, straight, flat sections were purposely avoided to prevent driver boredom and consequent fatigue, as well as sun-glare and glare from oncoming headlights. The new alignment also took into consideration the potential tourism opportunities provided along the coast of the Great Australian Bight.
The older route, Old Eyre Highway, runs from Border Village to the Nullarbor Homestead, approximately 15 to 20 kilometres (9 to 12 mi) away from the coast. Another section from the Nullarbor Homestead to Nundroo Motel also travelled further inland than the new alignment, past Ivy Tank Motel and Yalata Roadhouse.
Further improvements[edit]
The 1960s standard of a twenty-foot (6.2 m) sealed width with four-foot-wide (1.2 m) gravel shoulders was proving to be inadequate by the 1980s. Increasing numbers of truck and tourist coaches caused fretting, and reduced the actual sealed width to 5.6 metres (18 ft) along much of Eyre Highway. Main Roads in Western Australia spent around a million dollars a year on rehabilitating 50-to-100-kilometre (30 to 60 mi) sections. A major project to improve Eyre Highway, rather than just repair the damage, began in 1984 with federal government providing funding to reconstruct 300 kilometres (190 mi) in Western Australia.: 367 
The highway was rebuilt with a seven-metre-wide (23 ft) pavement, with shoulders partially sealed to a width of one metre (3 ft 3 in). Work began in mid-1985 near Cocklebiddy, with a 58-kilometre-long (36 mi) section completed in 1986. Work undertaken from 1987 to 1988 reached out 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of Cocklebiddy, and 225 kilometres (140 mi) had been completed by June 1990.: 367  The upgrade from Cocklebiddy to the state border was completed in October 1994.: 388 
Since the 1990s, regular maintenance and minor improvements have been an ongoing effort. There have been larger-scale works including reconstruction of sections near Caiguna, Balladonia, and the Frazer Range in Western Australia, as well as Cungena and Kyancutta in South Australia.
