Good weather on the West Coast over the weekend has helped crews removing loose rocks at Knights Point just north of Haast, where State Highway 6 was closed a week ago.

The closure was caused by record-breaking rain, creating wide-spread flooding, slips, and rockfall.

“The crew was able to use the helicopter to sluice the highest parts of the rock face on Saturday and has completed most of the safety-critical rock removal over the past two days,” NZTA system manager Mark Pinner said.

The next stage, once there is no more risk of overhead rockfall, is to construct a bund around the base of the cliff face to reduce the risk of any future rockfall making it onto the road.

The bund will be constructed using rock which has fallen from the site to date.

“The scaling team will continue with preparation for removal of some of the larger rockfall features this week, in clear co-ordination with ground crews for everyone’s safety," Mark said.

“Once we get this highway reopened in coming days, scaling and clean-up crews will continue to work at this site for some weeks so it will be a slower journey through this point for some time.”

Cracks in the highway are being filled this week and drainage improvements installed to funnel water away from the area of recent movement.

“We know this is frustrating for hospitality and tourism operators on the West Coast and in Otago who rely upon the Haast/SH6 loop for much of their summer business," Mark said.

"We are doing our best to return this road to everyone in a safe condition, ready for the months ahead.”

NZTA will provide a further update on Wednesday November 20 at 5pm, which will include a definitive timeline for re-opening the road, with earlier updates if anything changes before then.

The road is closed between Haast and Fox Glacier with access to the glacier region available from the north.