The long-awaited Third Don Crossing has taken another step forward this week.
The crossing, part of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route project, will ease traffic congestion in the north of Aberdeen, giving drivers a new link across the River Don between Grandholm and Tillydrone.
Four electricity pylons will be dismantled to make way for the £18million bridge.
This week, the first one was taken down by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission (She Transmission).
The towers need to be removed to clear the site before the major construction works start, and will be replaced by a single unit at Cookney.
A spokeswoman for the AWPR said it had taken months to plan the removal of the towers to ensure local residents did not lose power during the works.
She said: “Work continues to press ahead on what is the largest roads construction project in the UK with another milestone now in sight.
“After months of planning and preparatory works, four electricity towers near to the River Don are being removed so that the new crossing over the Don can be built.
“Before the towers could be dismantled, 1300 metres (4265ft) of underground cabling had to be in place and made operational so that vital local services were not disrupted.”
Work at various sections of the £745million Aberdeen bypass – which will connect the A90 south of Aberdeen at Stonehaven and Charleston, and with Blackdog to the north – has already been carried out, and the project is due to be completed by winter 2017.
The spokeswoman added: “Much of the construction work for the bypass has focussed on road-related work, but this work marks the start of one of the major structures of the scheme.
“Once the dismantling is complete, the local community will see the new bridge starting to take shape over the next year.
“Real visible changes to the region are taking place and I’m delighted to see another piece of this mammoth infrastructure jigsaw starting to be put in place.”
Councillor Ross Thomson, vice-convener of the council’s finance committee, said transport in the north-east will be turned around when the bridge becomes operational.
He said: “Great progress is being made and you can see the structure of the Third Don Crossing coming along.
“Lots of people in the city will welcome this and it will end motorists’ misery in the north of Aberdeen caused by congestion
every day.
“Businesses will only invest if we’ve got the right infrastructure, and so it’s a great way to show the north-east is open for business.”