Road Photos & Information: Western Australia
Marble Bar Road (State Route 138)
Statistics:
- Length:
- 437 km
- Termini:
- Northern: Great Northern Highway (NH95), Strelley
- Southern: Great Northern Highway (NH95), Newman
- Suburbs, Towns & Localities Along Route:
- Newman, Nullagine, Marble Bar and Strelley
Route Numbering:
- Current: 138
- Road Authority Internal Classification: 1
- M030
General Information:
SR138 is an isolated rural road linking lower northern WA mining communities to the major towns of Port Hedland and Newman. More than 300 vehicles a day use the route, most of which is mining traffic. 2
History:
- 2002: Reconstruction and sealing works on 20 km of Marble Bar Road between Shaw River and Marble Bar. 4
- 06 Feb 2004: Completion of sealing works between Marble Bar and Strelley near Port Hedland, a total of 144 km. 5 In 1951, with the closure of the old railway line, a promise was made to provide a sealed road between Port Hedland and Marble Bar. 6
- May 2004: Work begins on the reformation and gravel sheeting of 48 gravel sections of Marble Bar Road totalling 23.3 km. It also involved the drainage reformation of three gravel sections totalling 2.1 km and the construction of 13 concrete or rock-pitched cut-off walls. 7
- November 2004: Construction of two new floodways on Marble Bar Road. Work included the installation of concrete slabs, two 600mm diameter pipe culverts, and rock protection works, plus the reconstruction and sealing of the road approaches to the floodways at both Roy Hill and Bonney Downs. 8
- June 2005: Work begins on roadworks along Marble Bar Road between Nullagine and Newman. The project included gravel sheeting of 17.6 km of the route and the reconditioning of 5.3 km of the road, plus the construction of six floodway cut-off walls.9
- July 2006: Completion of works between Nullagine and Newman. 10
- Dec 2008: Work begins on widening a floodway from 6.8 m to 8.8 m. 3
Marble Bar to Newman
Advance Directional Sign:
AD sign on Ripon Hills Road approaching the junction Marble Bar Road (SR138), 22 km east of Marble Bar. October 2008. Note the sign is missing the SR138 shields.
Image © Lee Coombs
1 WA Government, Main Roads Western Australia, Road Information Mapping System.
2 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Floodway widening to improve North-West remote transport route, 12 December 2008.
3 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Marble Bar Road Improvements to begin after the wet, 29 November 2001.
4 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Gallop Government delivers on a 53-year-old promise, 06 February 2004.
5 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Marble Bar Road to be fully sealed this year, 16 January 2003.
6 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Local company wins $711 000 Marble Bar Road contract, 14 May 2004.
7 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, New floodways to reduce road closures on Marble Bar Road, 16 November 2004.
8 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Contract awarded for drainage works and re-sheeting on Marble Bar Road, 21 June 2005.
9 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Further improvements to Marble Bar Road, 07 July 2006.
2 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Floodway widening to improve North-West remote transport route, 12 December 2008.
3 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Marble Bar Road Improvements to begin after the wet, 29 November 2001.
4 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Gallop Government delivers on a 53-year-old promise, 06 February 2004.
5 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Marble Bar Road to be fully sealed this year, 16 January 2003.
6 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Local company wins $711 000 Marble Bar Road contract, 14 May 2004.
7 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, New floodways to reduce road closures on Marble Bar Road, 16 November 2004.
8 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Contract awarded for drainage works and re-sheeting on Marble Bar Road, 21 June 2005.
9 WA Government, Western Australian Government Media Office, Media Statement, Further improvements to Marble Bar Road, 07 July 2006.