A section of the A9 road in the Highlands will experience two months of disruption as work starts on crucial ground tests for dualling the road between Inverness and Perth.
Motorists travelling between Kincraig and Dalraddy will face traffic restrictions from Monday.
The works, which will require drilling about 15 boreholes into the road, will take place from 8am and 6pm between Monday and Thursday in order to avoid Fridays, which generally experience higher levels of traffic.
The tests are part of plans for dualling the section, one of the first in the north under the government’s plan to dual the route from Inverness to Perth.
The works have a predicted finishing date of Thursday, September 18.
Jo Blewett, Transport Scotland’s programme manager for the A9 dualling programme, said: “As part of the ambitious programme to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness, we are working hard to deliver the Kincraig to Dalraddy scheme, which is expected to begin construction in 2015/16.
“These ground investigations are needed to get vital information on the existing A9 carriageway as we progress our plans to dual the 4.5 mile section of the route.
“We apologise for any inconvenience the works will cause and would thank road users and local communities for their patience over the next two months.
“The contractor will closely monitor the operation of the traffic management to ensure that delays are kept to a minimum and that any incidents on site are quickly dealt with.”