Eight students from the polytechnic's Cromwell campus started making the pillars on Monday, and are expected to finish the project by the end of next week.
Stonemasonry course lecturer Steve Holmes said students on last year's course created a schist entranceway to the cemetery, which is being enhanced by a line of stone pillars on either side of it.
The work involved in planning, plotting, and crafting stone pillars was difficult, and students had to use every technique they had learnt so far in the year-long course.
They would be assessed on their work.
"Right-angle corners are very difficult, and all the pillars have to line up," Mr Holmes said.
A chain will link the pillars when it is connected through pipes mounted on each pillar.
The students worked from 8am to 4pm each day which Mr Holmes said gave them an appreciation of life as a full-time stonemason.
Half of the 16 students enrolled in the course this year were working on the cemetery and the rest were helping with various projects throughout Central Otago, Wanaka, and Queenstown.
"We have the most enrolments on the course this year since it started four years ago. The polytechnic offered a short stonemasonry course . . . but it was just a few weeks," he said.
Students from all over NZ enrolled for the course, which was the only one of its kind offering stonemason training.
