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.