Balfour Beatty will dual a 9.5km stretch of the A9 between Luncarty and Pass of Birnam.

It will be the second construction contract to be awarded as part of the Scottish Government’s ambitious programme to upgrade 80 miles of single carriageway.

A joint venture of Wills Bros Civil Engineering and John Paul Construction completed the 7.5km section of the A9 between Kincraig and Dalraddy stretch last year.

Balfour Beatty was appointed from a shortlist of four bidders which included Dragados, Wills Bros Civil Engineering and a joint venture between Farrans Construction and Roadbridge.

The contract will formally be awarded in the coming weeks.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity Michael Matheson said: “The dualling of the A9 will create hundreds of new jobs throughout the construction phases which will leave a lasting legacy of a highly skilled workforce, bolstering Scotland’s construction industry. The project will also act as a catalyst to attract significant inward investment and stimulate continued growth of our business communities, especially the tourism industry along this key route.

“The Scottish Government is committed to delivering this £3billion infrastructure improvement project to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness by 2025.”

Hector MacAulay, Balfour Beatty Managing Director for Scotland, said as well as construction of 9.5km of new dual-carriageway, the section will involve four new overbridges to maintain local access across the A9, along with the widening of one existing underbridge and the provision of a new side road bridge.

The first section of the A9 Dualling Programme was the £35million Kincraig to Dalraddy project which became fully operational in September 2017, and was constructed by Wills Bros Civil Engineering and John Paul Construction Joint Venture.