essentially bogs, or worse still, were completely washed away. Sealing the highway Initial efforts Economic growth and development in Western Australia's northern regions in the 1940s prompted the state to quadruple road funding between 1946 and 1952. Five "gangs" of workers were allocated to a length of Great Northern Highway between Meekatharra and Wyndham. However, given the vast distance the highway travelled, and destructive cyclones in the Pilbara and Gascoyne that could destroy multiple weeks worth of work, the overall improvement was relatively insignificant. Over time, though, the road was improved. New alignments were constructed, such as between Derby and Fitzroy Crossing in the late 1940s, which had originally followed the curve of the Fitzroy River, along its floodplain, and could only be used in the dry season. The new alignment was a more direct section, with the first sealed, a total of of gravel road, and the remainder simply formed earth. Despite this low construction standard, the road remained passable except for short periods during heavy rain. Beef Roads Scheme In 1961, the federal government passed the Western Australian Grants (Beef Cattle Roads) Act 1961, known as the Beef Roads Scheme, that encouraged road building in the Kimberley. This had followed on from an earlier federal grant scheme in 1949 for the construction of a road from Nicholson to Wyndham. The road allowed trucks to efficiently transport cattle to port, rather than the slow cattle drives that could lose stock and take weeks to complete. The 1961 Beef Roads Scheme initially included upgrading the Wyndham to Halls Creek section of Great Northern Highway as one of three projects in the region. One year later the scheme was expanded to include the Broome to Halls Creek section of the highway, and several bridge construction projects. However, the resources allocated to Great Northern Highway were needed to maintain the highway as an unsealed road in a usable condition, rather than to completely seal the roadway. In 1963, work was completed on stabilising a sandy section to prevent vehicles from becoming bogged, a section was realigned to avoid the Fortescue River floodplain, and between Marble Bar and Port Hedland was also realigned to minimise the effects of wet weather. Perth to Newman The projects funded by the Beef Roads Scheme resulted in a noticeably higher quality road in the Kimberley, but work still progressed on other sections of the highway. In 1970,