Cahills Crossing sweeps away a car every month, experts say

Two cars have already been lost to one of the NT’s most infamous river crossings this dry season, with experts claiming simple mistakes lead to drivers commonly being swept away.

A lucky driver has narrowly escaped one of the Territory’s most notorious river crossings but local experts say dozens of cars are claimed each year at Cahills Crossing, with “impatient” visitors swept into croc-infested floodwaters.

The 70m stretch of road connecting Kakadu National Park to Arnhem Land is famous for its almost guaranteed saltie-spotting and treacherous drive across the East Alligator River.

Longtime Kakadu tourism and environmental expert Andy Ralph shared nailbiting video footage that shows a ute attempting the crossing – hidden potholes and fast flowing water about a metre deep almost spelling disaster.

“Very close to getting washed off, the dip in the road 15m from the Kakadu side entry almost got him,” Mr Ralph said.

“We’ve had four cars come to grief in the last week or two, including a new HiLux (whose) diesel engine suffered a ‘hydraulic’ – no snorkel – episode in the middle of the crossing.”

Parks Australia confirmed two cars had been washed off Cahills Crossing so far this dry season.

A bunch of crocheads who got bogged at Cahills Crossing in 2020, walking across the infamous body of water to get out, with one slipping in. Picture: Supplied

Boe Vella, a civil construction worker who lives in the remote Arnhem Land community of Ramingining, passes through Cahills Crossing several times a month and says the beginning of the dry is one of the most dangerous times of the year.

“The worst time is now when you’ve got all the flood waters coming down, and at the start of the wet,” he said.

“The crossing’s in bad condition at the moment, it has a big hole in the middle.”

The 27-year-old said there could “easily be a dozen” cars washed away in a year – he had personally seen a caravan, a truck, and a police car stuck in the river.

“There would have been four car carcasses laying on their side at one point last year,” he said.

“I’ve seen a man standing guard with a gun looking for crocs while local rangers try pull the cars out.”

Even when there's not raging floodwaters or hidden potholes, there may still be hazards for drivers trying to cross Cahills Crossing. Picture: Supplied

Chris Boyer runs a four-wheel drive hire business but said it was his traffic management company Trafficwerx NT that was often called to Cahills Crossing in the wet season.

“We’re out there at least once a month – we do traffic controls, rescue people, manage the road when a rescue is taking place,” he said.

Mr Boyer said the problem was “impatient” or inexperienced drivers trying to cross at the wrong time.

“The problem is the people want to get over there and they don’t want to wait,” he said.

When the water is high there are two main ways cars get across, Mr Boyer explained.

One is by driving directly behind a large truck which is heavy enough to clear a path through the water.

“But if they stall or get frightened and stop for a second the water rushes in and they’re buggered,” he said.

Alternatively, there is a brief window when the high tide turns that the water becomes eerily still and four-wheelers can drive through as long as they have a snorkel to keep the engine dry.

A Parks Australia spokeswoman said it was up to the Northern Territory government to decide when to close the causeway, but in general the road was closed to tourists in the wet season.

“Travellers are advised to exercise caution when crossing the East Alligator River at Cahills Crossing. Safety around waterways should be the highest priority when visiting Kakadu, and tourists and residents should never be complacent when crossing waterways,” she said.