IN Brief:
- Transport Scotland has launched procurement for the final 58 miles of A9 dualling.
- The £1.94bn framework replaces the previous project-by-project tender model.
- Contractors will be brought into schemes earlier through an early contractor involvement approach.
Transport Scotland has launched procurement for a £1.94bn framework to deliver the remaining sections of the A9 dualling programme between Perth and Inverness.
The framework will cover the final 58 miles of the route and follows a delivery review that moved the programme away from a project-by-project tender model. Contractors will now be brought into schemes earlier through an early contractor involvement structure.
Transport Scotland expects the framework to improve constructability, support better risk management, and strengthen value across the remaining works. Procurement is due to conclude before the end of the year, with the first call-off contract covering the Dalraddy to Slochd section north of Aviemore.
That package includes the replacement of three at-grade junctions with grade-separated junctions at Aviemore South, Granish, and Blackmount. The remaining framework sections are Pass of Birnam to Tay Crossing, Killiecrankie to Glen Garry, Glen Garry to Crubenmore, Crubenmore to Kincraig, and Dalraddy to Slochd.
The framework will include requirements around social value, training, apprenticeships, SME participation, and decarbonisation across the supply chain. The Scottish Government remains committed to completing full A9 dualling by the end of 2035.
Several contractors already have experience on the route. Balfour Beatty delivered the Luncarty to Pass of Birnam section and is building Tomatin to Moy, while Wills Bros is constructing the Tay Crossing to Ballinluig section. A Wills Bros and John Paul joint venture previously completed the Kincraig to Dalraddy stretch.
The new procurement model reflects a broader shift in major infrastructure delivery. Clients are using earlier contractor input to test buildability, manage ground risk, refine traffic management plans, assess environmental constraints, and reduce the amount of uncertainty carried into fixed-price bids.
That approach is becoming more important as contractors take a more selective view of risk. Ferrovial UK’s stronger order book and margin performance, covered in recent IN Site coverage, reflected the wider move towards disciplined bidding and more careful exposure to complex infrastructure work.
The A9 programme carries many of the pressures now associated with major roads delivery. Live traffic interfaces, rural logistics, weather exposure, environmental management, land access, earthworks, structures, drainage, utilities, and community disruption all need to be coordinated over long stretches of route.
The framework structure gives Transport Scotland a route to standardise requirements across those sections while still tailoring delivery to local conditions. It should also give contractors a clearer view of future workload, helping them plan investment in people, plant, design resource, and regional supply-chain capacity.
Major highways work is now judged on more than carriageway output. Carbon reduction, biodiversity, local employment, training, safety, material efficiency, and community impact have become part of the construction brief. The A9 framework will test how effectively those requirements can be embedded across multiple contracts rather than managed as separate commitments.
With procurement now live, the programme moves into a decisive phase. The contractors appointed to the framework will shape how Scotland delivers one of its longest-running and most closely watched roads programmes.
