There are fears major highways and other roads in the NSW Central West and Riverina regions could be closed or barely passable for months due to flood damage.
The Newell Highway, a major link between Victoria and NSW, is one of the roads that is likely to be closed for a long period, according to Bogan Shire Mayor Glen Neil.
"Bitumen has washed away, causeways, culverts and small bridges are wrecked and we won't know the true extent of the damage for weeks," he said.
Mr Neil said it was a multi-million-dollar problem with no easy solution.
"With harvest nearly upon us the grain trucks will unfortunately tear up the roads even more [and] the sub soil is so wet I am fearful the bitumen will just give way," he said.
The council will try to reopen roads even if it is just a single lane, but Mr Neil said dealing with some roads was difficult because deep water was still lying over a few major thoroughfares around Tottenham and Cobar.
"But we can't just wait four months for them to dry out," he said.
Freight contractor Daniel Ball said he had never seen it so wet and was fearful that some roads would just cave in when put under stress from B-double trucks.
He said he had seen it happen before in wet years, and called for national assistance to rebuild infrastructure.
"There is water right up to the edge of the road for 20 or 30 kilometres and eventually it just soaks through," he said.
"That can make all the soil, even under the sealed sections, very soft.
"It just washes away."
Forbes Shire Council Mayor Phyllis Miller agreed the road situation was terrible, and said major roads could be cut for months.
"At the moment even the major highway the Newell is cut off between Forbes and West Wyalong and we don't know how long that will be the case," she said.
Ms Miller wants significant help to get the region's freight, tourism and grain moving again.
"After the 2012 flood we were promised a flood-proof highway and as you can see we are a long way from that — major infrastructure work is needed," she said.
"We are looking at pumping water off the roads and getting crews out to fix the pot holes and check the bridges."
Ms Miller said there was a limit to what councils could do with local crews, due to the extent of the flooding, the water still lying around and a lack of labour.
"We are grateful to the NSW [Regional Transport and Roads] Minister [Sam] Farraway's pledge of $50 million for pothole repair but we need federal infrastructure money as well. These are national highways," she said.
The weather forecast is not favourable either, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting another 30mm of rain and renewed river rises on the Murrumbidgee and the Lachlan starting on Sunday.
