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COPYRIGHT 2004 Australian Map Circle
Topographic maps and aeronautic charts of the Nullarbor depict a 3.2km x 1.6km diamond shape 13km northwest of Caiguna, on the Nullarbor Plain, labelled "Readymix", "Readymix sign" or "Aerial landmark". The history of the feature is revealed, and placed in the context of the Eyre Highway, during the sealing of which the diamond was created. A cartobibliography for the diamond is also included.
Dedicated to Allan Hoare (21.11.1936-21.6.1989), who carved the diamond
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Thirteen kilometres north-west of the John Eyre motel, at Caiguna on the Eyre Highway, topographic maps and aeronautical charts depict a mysterious diamond shape, labelled "Readymix sign" or "Aerial landmark". Larger scale topographic maps portray the word 'READYMIX' in capital letters inside the diamond. For twenty years from 1972, Guinness Book of Records listed the word as the world's largest letters. This paper investigates this unique cartographic feature, to determine the history of the diamond: who created it, when and why, using surviving documentary sources and interviews with those involved. A possible controversy over the original purpose of the diamond is analysed and explained, and a cartobibliography of maps and aerial photographs depicting the diamond is included.
EARLY NULLARBOR HISTORY
The vast treeless Nullarbor Plain isolates the inhabited areas of Western Australia from those of South Australia. The plain is generally considered to extend 400km west and 300km east of the Western Australia-South Australia boundary, and up to 250km inland from the Great Australian Bight. McKenzie & Robinson (1987, ix) contains an excellent, if now somewhat dated, bibliography for the Nullarbor.
Formed of limestone, the Nullarbor Plain is fairly porous so that any rainfall drains underground, resulting in no surface watercourses and few distinguishing features (Bolam, 1924, 51). The main vegetation includes saltbush (Atriplex spp.) and bluebush (Kochia/Maireana sedifolia), the former being "of the greatest value as forage, succulent and nutritious food for sheep and cattle in the driest season of the year" (Bolam, 1924, 45), and supporting about one sheep per twelve hectares (Reardon, 1996, 82). In non-drought seasons, these well-spaced subshrubs "almost disappear in a sea of grasses and forbs" (Beard, 1975, 40). The Aboriginal groups Mirning, Kokata and Wirangu lived on the periphery of the plain, which they called by the Mirning name of Gondiri, but only after rain would they venture far into it. The remarkably Aboriginal-sounding name 'Nullarbor', Latin for 'no trees', was given to the plain by South Australian surveyor Edmund Delisser, who explored into it in 1865-66 (Reardon, 1996, 13 & 33; see Delisser, 1867).
Before the arrival of Europeans, the southern fringe of the Nullarbor was crossed by Aboriginal traders (Reardon, 1996, 31). The first recorded crossing of the plain--from east to west--was by Edward John Eyre, John Baxter and three Aborigines in 1841, searching for an overland stock route. The expedition predominantly hugged the coast. Two of the Aborigines killed Baxter, south of present day Caiguna, and ran off, leaving Eyre and the other native, Wylie, to complete the journey to Albany (see Eyre, 1843 & 1845).
The second crossing--from west to east--was made by John Forrest, later premier of Western Australia, and his brother Alexander in 1870, travelling slightly inland (see Forrest, 1875). As a result of their report, a telegraph line was constructed along their route to connect Perth with Adelaide via Esperance. The line was completed on 8 December 1877 when the Western Australian and South Australian lines met at Eucla (Main Roads Department, 1969; Reardon, 1996, 64). A connecting line via Balladonia and Norseman to Coolgardie was added in 1896 (Beard, 1975, 3).
Meanwhile, Ernest Giles had also crossed the plain, westwards to Perth in 1875, travelling 250-300km inland, north of the present railway. He returned to South Australia through the centre of Western Australia in 1876, demonstrating the superiority of camels over horses for such journeys (Main Roads Department, 1969. See Giles, 1889). Further trans-Nullarbor crossings included Alfred H.G. Heath in 1894 who drove camels for the merchant Sultan Mohammed of Kandahar, from Marree to Coolgardie (Main Roads Department, 1969; Kimber, 2002), and the remarkable Arthur C. J. Richardson, who in 1896 cycled from Coolgardie to Adelaide in 31 days of "sweating and swearing" (Opperman, 1977, 203; Serle, 1988, 379). Sheep stations were established on the Nullarbor's fringes about this time: Noondonia in 1880, Balladonia and Nanambinia in 1883, and Mundrabilla in 1892. More stations were developed in the 1930s (Beard, 1975, 4), and the 1960s.
In 1906-7, filmmaker and overlander Francis Birtles cycled from Perth to Sydney unaccompanied, carrying his water, food, spares and a rifle "for protection against hostile blacks, although legend claimed, as a competent bushman, he understood them and, if need arose, could live with them" (Opperman, 1977, 204). He crossed the continent seven times by bicycle, his crossing in 1911 setting a record from Fremantle to Sydney of 31 days. Turning to motorised transport in 1912, Birtles, Sydney Ferguson and a terrier named Rex made the first motor-vehicle crossing of the Nullarbor, from Fremantle to Sydney in a 10hp Brush automobile in 28 days (Main Roads Department, 1969; Nairn & Serle, 1981, 278-9; see Birtles, 1935). The Trans-Australian Railway was begun in September that year, connecting Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta. Completed on 17 October 1917, it opened up overland travel to Western Australia to all from the eastern states. The telegraph was rerouted along the railway for ease of maintenance, and transmissions via Eucla ceased in 1927 (Burke, 1991, 243 & 262 fn4; Reardon, 1996, 66 & 76).
Then in 1937, Hubert Opperman, champion cyclist and subsequent politician, outdid Richardson's and Birtles' feats by cycling from Cottesloe beach in Perth to Bondi beach in Sydney in 13 days 10 hours 11 minutes. His backup crew included Herb Elliot, who while carefully noting road conditions for "Oppy's" attempt, was probably the first to tow a caravan across the plain. Another in the crew, Aubrey Melrose, had crossed the plain seven times. Their route followed the railway from Kalgoorlie to Rawlinna, and then turned south towards Madura Pass (Opperman, 1977, 204-5 & 211).
THE EYRE HIGHWAY
Before the Second World War, the 'road' to South Australia followed tracks used to transport poles during construction of the overland telegraph line, and was little more than a stock route connecting pastoral stations, hard to locate in places and impassable after rain. Wartime strategic necessity dictated that the Department of the Army, through the Main Roads Department of Western Australia, form more useable road. A road paralleling the transcontinental railway was ruled out due to the cost and effort required for construction through the numerous limestone outcrops. The eventual Norseman to Ceduna route avoided such difficulties, and was constructed from July 1941 to June 1942. Road metal was used on weak sections, but the passes at Madura and Eucla were fully constructed and sealed. Even when formed, occasional rain could still render the road impassable for several days (Main Roads Department, 1972, 1; Edmonds, 1997, 93-97 & 442-443). Traffic volume was light, but grew steadily after the war as private vehicle ownership grew. From fewer than 10 vehicles per day in June 1951, volumes increased to 20 per day by 1957 and almost 40 per day by 1963 (Main Roads Department, 1972, 1). This latter increase was due in part to the hosting of the Commonwealth Games in Perth in 1962 which attracted a reasonable number of interstate visitors (Main Roads Department, 1969).
The long unsealed road was notorious for its potholes and difficulties after rain, as attested by entries in the John Eyre motel register:
16/2/61 You don't need a licence to drive on this road. A grader or two maybe.
19/2/61 The words to describe this road aren't in the dictionary.
23/4/64 I haven't come across a road yet.
2/5/64 Please put lights in the potholes.
7/5/64 No wonder Eyre found the going tough.
11/5/64 C--t of a road.
29/5/64 So that's why kangaroos hop. Caution: blow horn before entering potholes--there may be another car in it.
11/7/64 First man to swim through Caiguna.
3/9/64 Oh! My aching arse! (John Eyre Motel, 1964)
Such traffic and tourism increases, and the economic importance of the road to Western Australia, convinced that state's government in 1960 to seal the highway all the way to the South Australian boundary. South Australia began sealing its section of the road in tandem, but the work was less critical to that state, so was given a lower priority. The sealing of the Western Australian section was planned to be completed in stages from Norseman, by the end of 1971. The long duration of the work was the result of Commonwealth refusal to fund the road, forcing the state to find the monies itself (Edmonds, 1997, 223).
From Norseman to Madura, the new sealed road was built alongside the original to allow both construction and traffic to operate unhindered. Some curves were added between Madura and Eucla to reduce driver fatigue and boredom, and the Main Roads Department considered in retrospect that this policy would have improved the 90-mile (146km) straight from Balladonia to Caiguna (Main Roads Department, 1972, 4), which is claimed to be the longest straight sealed road in the world (Reardon, 1996, 82).
Between Balladonia and Madura, soil surveys revealed an absence of suitable natural gravels for roadmaking. While "stabilising both the in situ soils and poorly graded, high plasticity index gravels with bitumen, lime or cement" was considered, this was more expensive than utilising local limestone, if quarries were strategically placed and operated at a reasonable scale (Main Roads Department, 1972, 5). Between Balladonia and Madura six such quarries were eventually established, providing a total of 300 000 cubic yards [230 000 cubic metres] of crushed limestone for use as base. These quarries also produced sealing aggregate. Together with a seventh quarry between Madura and Eucla used only for this latter purpose, a total of 57 000 cubic yards [44 000 cubic metres] of sealing aggregate was produced. The bitumen for sealing was initially trucked in from Perth, in drums. With the development of road tankers, up to 4500 gallons [20 000 litres] could be delivered by each truck. A total of 2 100 000 gallons [9 500 000 litres] was used (Main Roads Department, 1972, 7-8 & 11).
Another limiting condition was the availability of water. Dams were considered, but tests proved them unworkable due to the porous limestone bedrock. Even if lined with polyethelene, the dams were of little use due to the low and unreliable rainfall, less than 250mm annually, and high evaporation rates exceeding 1500mm (Main Roads Department, 1972, 5; Reardon, 1996, 14). A total of 27 million gallons [123 million litres] of water was instead sourced from bores and underground caverns, despite salinity higher than normally used for construction (Main Roads Department, 1972, 5; Reardon, 1996, 84). Potable water for the workforce was trucked in from Norseman, up to...
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