Work begins on £3bn A9 dualling programme in Scotland

Wills Bros Civil Engineering /John Paul Construction joint venture (JV) has started work on the first phase of the £3bn A9 trunk road dualling programme in Scotland.

Representing the Scottish Government flagship infrastructure investment project, the programme will see around 80 miles of upgraded road being delivered between Perth and Inverness by 2025.

As part of a £35m contract awarded in June, Wills Bros/John Paul JV began working on the five-mile long section between Kincraig and Dalraddy in the Highlands.

Scottish Infrastructure, Investment and Cities Cabinet Secretary Keith Brown said: "With the official opening of the Borders Railway and now the ground-breaking of work on the A9, this has been a historic week for transport infrastructure in Scotland.

"When this ambitious programme is complete, enormous economic and social benefits will be felt by communities along the length of the road, and beyond.

"Shorter term safety improvements for the A9 are already delivering positive benefits for the safety of the route, with preparation work on further dualling work also now starting to bear real fruit."

The Kincraig-Dalraddy contract requires the contractor to upgrade a five-mile stretch of single carriageway to a dual carriageway, with an estimated completion date of summer 2017.

The contractor will undertake more than 700,000t of excavation and lay more than 18ha of new road carriageway, which equates to 25 full-size football pitches.

Engineering firm Jacobs is set to dualise the 32-mile section of road between Glen Garry and the Pass of Birnam under a £60m contract awarded in August 2014.

A third £40m design contract will see Atkins/Mouche JV undertake design work for the road between Tomatin and Moy and the Slochd Summit to Dalraddy.

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Image: The A9 trunk road near Dingwall, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland. Photo: courtesy of Phillip Capper via Wikipedia.