National Parks and Wildlife Service Walcha Area Manager Roger Mills said the soaking rain that has left the Walcha region green over the New Year period has had some unpleasant consequences.

“A large storm on December 28 around Walcha and particularly the Ohio Creek catchment caused the Apsley River to rise to 3.2m by midnight, well over the Apsley River walking bridge.

“By the next morning the river levels had fallen, revealing the damaged bridge.

“The walking bridge was constructed by National Parks staff in the early 1990s and has seen many floods since then without sustaining major damage.

“In 2004 the river levels reached 3.7m and although well before the bridge was built the record flood at Apsley Falls was just over 5m in 1955.

“We believe that a large amount of debris must have been washed down and built up against the bridge, causing huge amounts of pressure that buckled large sections of the bridge.

“Once the river falls the damage will be assessed by an engineer and we will start work on rebuilding the structure, but at the moment there is no access across the Apsley River on the Oxley Walk to the lookouts on the northern and eastern side of the gorge.

“All the other lookouts and walking tracks are still open at Apsley Falls, and the recent rain certainly has the area looking the best it has this summer,” he said.