Highways District Manager Don Ramsey confirmed that the Usk ferry cable system suffered some serious damage during the high water. Originally it was reported that the cable snapped. On further inspection it appears that the cable itself did not snap but the end where it attaches to the counter weight on the north side broke off.

Ramsey explained that from their assessment it appears that the cable was hooked by a large tree and was pulled with such force that the multi-ton counter weight, which normally hangs one foot off the ground, was pulled at least twice to the top of the containment cage. There is evidence of it hitting the top of the cage with some force. At one of these impacts the end fastener of the cable let go and the counter weight crashed down to the ground. This impact damaged the structural steel of the mechanism. It was reported that the noise of this destruction was heard up and down the valley.

Ramsey stated that he has commissioned a structural engineer to assess precisely what will be required to repair this damaged structure so that the ferry can be put back into service. He was not able to provide any estimate of when this will transpire.

The passenger cable car is back in service but is limited to two passengers plus the operator. Geo-technical engineers have inspected the site to ensure that the anchors maintained their integrity. The concern was that, as these anchors had been completely submerged, the ground had lost its strength to provide the security required. The engineers confirmed that it was safe and that the towers had no lean to them.

The passenger restriction is due to the high water such that if a large tree or debris field came down stream it might impact the passenger cage. At one point the car was less than 2 meters from the river level. It has dropped significantly and the full passenger load may soon be re-established.