All other sections of the South Westland highway are now passable — the section from Fox Glacier to Paringa reopened to all traffic at 5pm on Monday.
Paringa to Moeraki is opening daily on the hour, every hour between 9am and 6pm from yesterday.
Motorists are warned to expect delays of up to 60 minutes as vehicles will be piloted through via single-lane access.
The greatest concern, however, is at Epitaph Cutting near Knights Point, where there is a massive slip below the road and a new slip above the road.
Large cracks in the highway emerged after the Friday night deluge, and loose rocks have been falling on to the road.
MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan said a big rainfall was expected overnight tomorrow.
Westland District Mayor Helen Lash said rock-scaling contractors had been removing loose rocks, working ahead of the rain, but more rocks had come down in a different spot.
She has been sending information to Wellington, however Transport Minister Simeon Brown’s office has referred queries to NZTA.
NZTA said the fresh rockfall was to the right of the existing fall.
"It’s still coming down," a spokeswoman said.
The abseilers had their work cut out trying to find safe anchor points.
When the highway reopens, it may be weight restricted to keep heavy vehicles such as buses and trucks from aggravating the situation.
Meanwhile, more temporary Bailey bridges are on order for the South Island.
A Bailey bridge was used in 2019 when the Waiho (Waiau) Bridge at Franz Josef was washed out.
West Coast Regional Council chairman Peter Haddock and regional transport committee chairman Peter Ewen attended a transport meeting in Christchurch on Monday.
They were told there are 12 Bailey bridges with a 30m span in New Zealand: one is in use, six are in the North Island, and five are in the South Island.
Mr Haddock said they also had a 140m bridge on order from Australia to boost stock.
"Cr Ewen and I will propose ... a stock on the West Coast, perhaps 60m," Cr Haddock said.
The meeting was also briefed on the Knights Point closure.
Cr Haddock wondered if a Bailey bridge could be used to span the slip.
"We really stressed the importance [of the highway there] — it goes right into Otago and the whole South Island route." — Greymouth Star
