a single-lane sealed section was completed between Perth and Meekatharra. The project was one of the first in the state to be constructed by contractors rather than by Main Roads directly. It cost $9 million, two-thirds of which was spent after 1959. The next section to be upgraded and sealed was from Meekatharra to Newman, a project that would take four and a half years to construct. Due to the remoteness of the location, airstrips were built alongside the highway, so that workers could be flown in from Geraldton. The highway was realigned in several spots, to avoid difficult areas, improve river crossings, or give drivers a more scenic view of the surrounding area. New bridges were constructed along the route, including a reinforced concrete bridge at the Fortescue River, and a four-span bridge over the Gascoyne River's Middle Branch. By December 1978, the sealed road reached Newman, with the project completed three months ahead of schedule, and at a cost of $20 million, $1 million under budget. With a seal and shoulders, the road could easily accommodate two lanes of traffic. Previously sealed sections, totalling of the highway, were less than half that width. Premier Charles Court opened the new and improved highway on 12 December 1978. Port Hedland to Wyndham The two-lane sealed road between Halls Creek and Wyndham was also completed in 1978. It involved the construction of 21 bridges, and extensive earthworks designed to blend the road into the terrain. The section was opened on 23 July 1978 by the Minister for Transport, at a cost of over $20 million. Meanwhile, work on sealing and upgrading the section from Port Hedland to Broome began in 1976. With up to five contractors and four Main Roads teams working throughout the project, it was completed at an extraordinarily rapid pace. It opened in April 1981 at a cost of $56 million. With the opening of this section, tourist traffic escalated. Cape Keraudren, Eighty Mile Beach, and Broome became increasingly favoured destinations, especially for residents of the Pilbara. Work accelerated in the 1980s as part of the Australian Bicentenary Road Development program. From October 1982, the program provided $2.5 billion to upgrade the country's roads in the lead up to Australia's bicentenary in 1988. By this time, the only sections of Great Northern Highway yet to be sealed were a stretch from Fitzroy Crossing to Halls Creek, and another