Procurement chiefs were forced to curtail procurement of the section of the £3bn dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness at the start of the year.

Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering, John Graham Construction and Wills Bros Civil Engineering were originally shortlisted to bid for the 9.6km dualling job.

But after two pulled out, just one bid was submitted and that at a price much higher than the budgeted £115m.

Following fresh invitations to bid, it is anticipated that the contract will be awarded in early Summer 2024. The project is expected to take around three years to build.

The updated contract strategy sees a switch to an amended version of the NEC4 contract, used widely across the UK, as well as a more balanced approach to the sharing of risk between the Scottish Ministers and the contractor.

This new procurement represents a significant change in the way that Transport Scotland contracts its major infrastructure projects.

Grahame Barn, chief executive of The Civil Engineering Contractor’s Association, said: “We are grateful for the substantial consultation Transport Scotland has undertaken with me, CECA member companies and the wider contracting industry to enable them to develop a new form of contract that seeks to address many of the concerns previously expressed by industry.

“A considerable body of work has had to be undertaken by Transport Scotland to ensure that the terms and conditions of their new contract work for both the taxpayer and the contracting industry.

“This has, rightly, taken time to execute properly and I am confident that with this change to an amended NEC4 contract, contractors will view the Tomatin to Moy dualling as being attractive to bid.”