Inquest into death of tourists killed by slip to resume

Joanna Lam and Connor Hayes died after a huge slip swept their van into the Haast River.

A coroner's inquest into the death of two tourists killed a year ago when their campervan was swept off a mountain pass will resume next week -- a day before the highway is due to reopen.

State Highway 6 through the Haast Pass should be back to normal next week for the first time since the massive Diana Falls slip last September, killing Canadians Connor Hayes and Joanna Lam as they were travelling up the steep section of road.

The inquest into the deaths was held in February, but the coroner David Crerar adjourned the hearing until a later date when the circumstances of the deaths would be investigated more fully.

The inquest will resume at the Greymouth District Court on Tuesday.

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.

A crane is being used, in conjunction with abseilers, to build three rockfall fences across the face.

NZTA regional performance manager Pete Connors said yesterday some finishing work had still to be done on the mesh and rockfall protection fence covering the 30m high rockface above the highway.

More than 30 tonnes of steel mesh and and three safety fences have been installed, designed to stop a boulder weighing up to 16 tonnes, travelling at over 90kph, from falling on to the highway.

Mr Connors said the slip had been the most significant on 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 figure includes manpower and machinery costs to clear the slip and reinstate the highway, the hiring of helicopters for the sluicing of loose rock on the slip face, aerial surveys and bringing equipment on to the slip site, geotechnical surveys, signs and traffic control, installation of radio communications and abseilers, and $2.5m for construction of the three rockfall protection fences.

-- additional reporting from the Otago Daily Times.