Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s new Inverness Campus is nearing completion, as over 70 construction labourers work to meet the deadline.

The infrastructure completion date for the new facility is only five months away, and work is currently being undertaken to construct walls, build roads and develop the landscape.

Almost two miles of roads are already in construction, while two and a half miles of foot and cycle paths are taking shape.

The campus, once completed, will include 10 hectares of open parkland spaces and 1,500 square metres of timber decking.

Work is also underway on supports for the new bridge over the A9, which will provide access for cyclists and pedestrians.

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The bridge is being built on the Campus site and will be moved into position across eight lanes of trunk road at the end of March 2013.

Project director Ruaraidh MacNeil said: "Now is a very exciting time for the Campus. Anyone who has passed the site recently will really begin to understand how it will look when complete.

"Contractors are hard at work planting 600 semi-mature trees and over 20,000 saplings are being planted which have been protected throughout the development.

"What’s also amazing to see is the ongoing work to build over half a mile of dry stone dyking which will border the Campus development plots and give the Campus its distinct Highland character."

The Scottish government has designated the Campus as an Enterprise Area for Life Science.

This offers the opportunity for incentives like rates relief and a streamlined planning process.

All developments on site can be followed on the Campus website at www.invernesscampus.co.uk

(IT)