The contractor for multimillion-pound flood defences at Huntly has been appointed.
The £3.5million scheme will be built by Wills Bros Civil Engineering.
It is hoped work on the ground could start next month and it is expected to take between 10 months and a year to finish.
It has primarily been designed to reduce the risk of flooding to the Meadows area of the town and includes new embankments there and beside the Ittingstone Burn.
A new walkway will also be created along some of the embankment.
The scheme has attracted a number of objections from landowners, but the local authority has progressed the plans under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009.
Chairwoman of Aberdeenshire Council’s Marr area committee Moira Ingleby said: “The imminent start of this work is excellent news for the people of Huntly who know the risk posed to the town by flooding, having suffered from it in the past.
“Implementing a flood protection scheme is not a quick or easy process, but we have successfully got to the point where this will soon be a reality.”
Committee vice-chairman John Latham added: “It was clearly important that objections to the scheme were properly investigated and weighed-up against the benefits to the wider community and the extensive work we have done to this point means we should be able to move towards delivery of the flood protection scheme on the ground with minimal delay, which has to be welcomed.”
The scheme has been designed to reduce the risk of flooding to residential, agricultural, community and business properties along the River Deveron, the Ittingstone Burn and the Meadow Burn.