FOR years it has been just a line on a map looping around Aberdeen.

Today the Evening Express reveals how the city’s bypass looks on the ground. Our latest set of aerial pictures show sections of the route etched on the earth, cutting across fields and forests.

Turf and trees have been cleared so the foundations can be laid.

Trucks and workers are visible on the ground – part of a construction army that should rise to around 1,500 at the end of the year.