Joint venture contractors Balfour Beatty and Galliford Try have now provided the necessary technical assurances for the River Don Crossing, which were required before the Scottish Government would accept handover.

The £745m project being delivered by consortium Aberdeen roads fell behind schedule and is now expected to cost more than £1bn.

The project has been opened in several stages and was originally due to be completed in Spring 2018.

Contractors suffered several setbacks during the project including severe weather, the collapse of third delivery partner Carillion and technical problems on several structures.

This new 4.5-mile section of road will link the southern Craibstone to Stonehaven and Charleston section with the Parkhill to Blackdog section in the north.

The Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Michael Matheson, said: “We will continue to work constructively with Aberdeen Roads Limited as it moves into the operational phase of the project and it builds stronger relationships with the community it now serves.”

Both contractors are in talks with Transport Scotland regarding significant claims in respect of the contract.

Peter Truscott, chief executive of Galliford Try, said: “We are pleased that the final section of AWPR will be fully open to traffic on Tuesday 19 February and this vital piece of infrastructure is available to the local community. We continue constructive dialogue with our client regarding important and recognised claims.”

Both Balfour and Galliford Try have had to fund cost overruns of around £140m each.