Locals upset after possible third crash in three weeks

The first smash involved a B-double truck and the second is thought to have taken place when a smaller vehicle, possibly a car, went through a fence.

The third incident involved a B-double truck that got airborne for an estimated 30 metres, seriously hurting the driver.

That crash happened about 1am last Wednesday when 750 litres of diesel fuel was spilt.

Crystal Brook's Ivan Venning, who is a former Liberal MP, wrote to Transport Minister Stephan Knoll complaining about the situation.

The Flinders News also put some questions to the Minister, but, after a delay, he referred the inquiry to the transport department.

The departmental spokesman said: "The detour was designed within required standards with two independent audits of the site."

He referred only to two incidents after which the site was inspected.

"While investigations into both truck crashes are ongoing, the department is urging all road users to adhere to signed speed restrictions," he said. 

Mr Venning said that putting the detour alongside the bridge was a "bad move because the cliffs are so steep".

"They should have put a ford 300 to 400 metres away above the waterline," he said.

"It has been a disaster. The thing they have built there is just ridiculous. It was obviously a decision made in Adelaide and they have never come onto the site.

"The bridge could be washed away. When the Rocky River floods, it floods. It could be 75 metres wide and five metres deep.

"They will lose the lot plus the scaffolding under the bridge."

If this happened, traffic could be forced to divert from the Augusta Highway along the Cattle Track.

"Why don't they listen to the council and the people who live here?" he said.

Port Pirie Regional Council's Cr Neville Wilson, of Crystal Brook, said he thought the incidents were more likely to be the result of driver fatigue "than anything".

He backed the idea of a ford being created.