An experienced road train driver fears that a crumbling section of the Stuart Highway south of Coober Pedy is an accident waiting to happen unless an urgent fix is found.
Matthew Allpike, who drives triple road trains weekly along the busy freight route from Adelaide to Darwin, said he and his colleagues became worried as soon as they saw an increase in heavier combinations appearing from the nearby mine sites.
“About six weeks ago they started running five-trailer road trains from the mine site to the rail-siding roughly 60km north along the Stuart Highway,” Allpike told Big Rigs.
“When the mine trucks started, a lot of truck drivers who run north weekly were concerned that as these heavy long trucks were turning out of the mines access road onto the Stuart Highway, the screwing of trailers would rip up the road, and sure enough in less than a fortnight this has happened.
“I don’t know who engineered or approved this, but it would’ve been a better idea to put a sweeping bend in the access road with a long merging lane onto the highway to avoid the heavy trailers screwing on the highway.”
Allpike said the trucks, some of which he estimates could be as heavy as 210 tonnes when fully loaded, had unwittingly torn the top layers of bitumen clean off the northbound lane, leaving behind a 200-metre trail of ruts and potholes.
“Talking to a lot of other drivers that run up that way we have all said that the damage to the road concerns us enough to believe there could be a serious accident there if a less experienced driver or a motorcycle rider hit one of the holes in the road,” Allpike said.
“Even I received a cracked windshield the other day as a truck in the opposite direction failed to slow down and showered me with rocks, not to mention the time loss and extra fuel consumption that comes with slowing a road train down and then trying to get back to cruising speed on a section of highway that was perfectly fine two months ago.”
Matthew Allpike has already had his windshield cracked after being showered in rocks from an oncoming truck. Image: Matthew AllpikeAllpike said most truckies are now aware of it in time to slow down and take evasive action, but he fears for other motorists’ safety.
“You know what caravan drivers are like, and they’d be unaware of it and I can just see one hitting that hole and ending up sideways, and off the road.”
Allpike said there is now a speed limit on the highway of 40km/h in the damaged area, but doubts that will have much safety benefits.
For road train drivers like himself, the need to slow down in that area also takes a hefty toll on schedules and fuel bills, he added.
“By the time you slow right down and crawl through there, it takes me probably a good 10 minutes to get back up to 90km/h and get cruising again.
“Every time you slow a road train down and get going again, that’s fuel consumption.
“I know it might not be much, but you’re doing it all the time, and it adds up – you’ve got to try and save money everywhere you can nowadays.”
Meanwhile, the condition of the road continues to deteriorate.
“I’m just worried that the government will just go out and patch the hole up and it will last three or four days and it’ll be chopped out again,” Allpike said.
“It doesn’t matter how much you patch it, as long as these trucks are turning on it, it’s going to keep getting ripped up.
“They could cut that whole section of road out and concrete it. But I can’t imagine they’re going to do that, that’s expensive.
“All I know is that road is shocking and there’s going to be an accident there – I can see it coming.”
A spokesperson for the South Australia Department of Infrastructure and Transport told Big Rigs it has instructed mine operators and their contractors to temporarily reduce speeds in this location due to the current road hazard.
“We are working to review the road condition and establish a timeframe for repairs,” the spokesperson said.
“We will continue to work with mine operators throughout the works to ensure safety for road users.”
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