UK A9 Road £1.94 Billion Expansion Framework Enters Final Tender

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 14, Transport Scotland formally invited contractors to submit bids for the A9 road dualling delivery framework agreement, with the framework valued at approximately £1.936 billion in total. The framework will be used to procure the final 5 sections of the Perth to Inverness A9 dualling programme that have not yet entered the construction procurement stage. The tender has moved from prequalification to the final bidding stage, and the framework agreement is scheduled to be signed by the end of 2026.

This framework covers 5 sections with a total length of approximately 92.4 km. Among them, the Pass of Birnam to Tay Crossing section is 8.4 km long, the Glen Garry to Crubenmore section is 20.5 km long, and the Crubenmore to Kincraig section is 16.5 km long, all included in Lot 1; the Killiecrankie to Glen Garry section is 22 km long and the Dalraddy to Slochd section is 25 km long, both included in Lot 2. The works mainly involve upgrading the existing road to dual two-lane carriageway standard and constructing bridges, interchanges, culverts and other ancillary road facilities.

The framework is divided into two lots based on the estimated value of individual subsequent contracts. Lot 1 is for works with an individual value below £400 million, with a framework value of approximately £946 million; Lot 2 is for works with an individual value above £400 million. The entire framework adopts a multi-contractor model, and bidding companies may participate in both lots simultaneously, with no limit on the number of lots a single company may win.

The 5 contractors entering the final bidding stage are the Balfour Beatty Morrison Construction joint venture, Graham, Hochtief (UK) Construction, Kier Transportation and Wills Brothers Civil Engineering. All of the above companies have been invited to compete for both lots. The contractors ultimately shortlisted for the framework will compete for specific contracts when the subsequent 5 A9 section projects are launched.

Procurement documents show that the framework contract is intended to adopt the NEC4 Framework Contract, and subsequent individual works will adopt NEC4 Option A or Option C contracts, with an early contractor involvement mechanism introduced. Contractors will be involved before formal construction in design, risk management, construction organisation and buildability optimisation. In bid evaluation, quality factors carry a weighting of 70%, covering procurement and delivery management, technical solutions, commercial arrangements, risk and sustainability; cost carries a weighting of 30%.

The A9 dualling programme as a whole involves the upgrading of approximately 83 miles of road between Perth and Inverness, divided into 11 projects in total. The Kincraig to Dalraddy and Luncarty to Pass of Birnam sections were opened to traffic in 2017 and 2021 respectively; Tomatin to Moy and Tay Crossing to Ballinluig are currently under construction; Pitlochry to Killiecrankie is being procured separately. The delivery plan updated by the Scottish Government in 2026 requires the entire A9 dualling programme to be completed by the end of 2035.

Under the current delivery plan, the Tomatin to Moy section is scheduled to be opened to traffic by late spring 2028, and the Tay Crossing to Ballinluig section is scheduled to be opened to traffic by the end of 2028; after the signing of this £1.936 billion framework, the first project to be procured through the new framework will be the Dalraddy to Slochd section. This section will also convert 3 at-grade junctions at Aviemore South, Granish (A95) and Blackmount (Carrbridge) into grade-separated interchanges.