State Highway 6 through the Haast Pass should be back to normal next week for the first time since a slip at Diana Falls in September last year.
A crane is pictured being used, in conjunction with abseilers, to build three rockfall fences across the face.
The highway is still closed at night, but from next Wednesday the New Zealand Transport Agency plans to have it open again at all hours of the day and night.
Regional performance manager Pete Connors said yesterday some finishing work had still to be done on the mesh and the rockfall protection fence covering the 30m-high rock face above the highway.
More than 30 tonnes of steel mesh and and three safety fences have been installed, designed to stop boulders weighing up to 16 tonnes, travelling at 90kmh, falling on to the highway.
Mr Connors said the slip had been the most significant in the West Coast highway network for many years and one of the most challenging.
The cost of the work is expected to be $9 million.
The total figure includes manpower and machinery costs to clear the slip and reinstate the highway, hiring helicopters for sluicing loose rock on the slip face, aerial surveys and bringing equipment on to the slip site, geotechnical surveys, signs and traffic control, abseilers, installation of radio communications and $2.5 million for construction of the three rockfall protection fences.
