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Leica Geosystems has high hopes for iCON, described as its pioneering portfolio of tailor-made positioning and measuring solutions for construction professionals. Said to be more than a new product line and a software package, the iCON range consists of four elements. iCONstruct provides tailor-made hardware and software solutions for positioning and measuring tasks on site.

The road bypass of the Czech city of Kolin is expected to open by the end of 2012. Builders have recently stabilised subgrade in Staralka. The 8km road is worth about US$97.4million (CZK 2bn). The project was delayed by a slow progress in buying land which took four years. The city has been waiting for the bypass for more than 40 years.

More than 80km of roadways are to be renovated in the Buryat Republic, Siberia, in 2012 as a part of the regional targeted programme. The renovation works include 60.3km of regional roads and 20km of local significance roads. At the beginning of 2012 highway mileage in the republic amounted to approximately 8,300km.

A total of US$1.89billion (CNY 11.97bn) has been allocated to build 51.47km of highways across the city of Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province, China. The feasibility report for the plan was recently approved by provincial authorities.

Auction firm Ritchie Bros is handling two equipment sales simultaneously in St Aubin sur Gaillon and Avignon in France on June 26th. The sale includes selection of Wirtgen milling machines, excavators, dump trucks, asphalt pavers and rollers, as well as an array of other items. More than 1,100 heavy equipment items (and trucks) will go under the auctioneer’s hammer. The Avignon auction (currently featuring 270+ items) will be broadcasted live at the auction in St Aubin Sur Gaillon (currently featuring 850+

Construction work is proceeding on track with the erection of a new bridge over the Ohio River in the US. Building work on this US$81 million project began in March 2012 and is expected to be completed by 2015. Brayman Construction Corporation is building the new Ironton-Russell Bridge, which will replace an existing structure spanning the Ohio River. Finley Engineering Group is providing bridge construction engineering services to Brayman Construction Corporation for the project, which will provide a link

Electric car sales in many countries remain sluggish. In the US, Chevrolet’s Volt model sold 7.671 in 2011 while sales of Nissan’s Leaf model reached 9.674. Meanwhile sales of electric cars in the UK for example have topped around 2,100 units since 2006. Major barriers to public acceptance of pure electric cars remain the high prices, due in part to the costs of the batteries. Costing up to US$15,000, a lithium ion battery pack for a car is not a cheap option.