Concrete Pipe acquisition
The Concrete Pipe Division recently purchased Carder Concrete Products and Wyoming Concrete Products comprising three plants: Littleton, Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colorado and Casper, Wyoming.
This acquisition is part of the division’s strategy to develop low cost manufacturing capacity in markets where above average growth is expected. As a result of the acquisition, the Concrete Pipe Division will improve its market position and gain extra production capacity, reduce its low cost base and improve customer service standards. The management team will also be strengthened by the addition of Carder’s able management team.
To capitalize on the Rinker Materials brand, the trading/division name Hydro Conduit has been replaced by Rinker Materials Concrete Pipe Division.
Saving the gliders
Clearing forests for industrial or residential development can be a positive step for some, but for flora and fauna, the impact can often be devastating.
The Oxley Creek catchment in Queensland was once home to five of the six glider species found in Australia - a unique occurrence. Due to development plans, large tracts of significant bushland are being cleared at Larapinta and Heathwood, and these tiny and delicate creatures’ lives are now at risk.
To help conserve populations of gliders in the Larapinta area, Readymix funded construction and installation of 20 artificial hollows (specifically designed for glider habitation), installing them in bushland on our property at the Larapinta site operations, Oxley Creek.
It can take over 120 years for a suitable hollow to form naturally in the local forest trees where these little gliders live. This project will help scientists gather important information - vital to the survival of these animals - on the time taken for arboreal gliders to adapt to these man-made hollows in areas of younger forest regrowth.
The Oxley Creek Catchment Association will provide volunteers to monitor the nest boxes on a four weekly interval. They will check for habitation by gliders or other possible inhabitants such as feral European bees or arboreal ant species. Builders of these nests, Hollow Log Homes, and OCCA will train volunteers on how to monitor and collect information on the gliders.
About gliders
Gliders are small marsupial possums native to eastern and northern Australia. The most noticeable features of these tiny creatures’ anatomy are the twin skin membranes called “patagiums” which extend from the fifth finger of the forelimb back to the first toe of the hind foot. These are inconspicuous when the glider is at rest - it merely looks a little flabby, as though it had lost a lot of weight recently - but immediately obvious when it takes flight. The membranes are used to glide between trees: when fully extended they form an aerodynamic surface the size of a large handkerchief.
Gliders can occupy any area where there are tree hollows for shelter and sufficient food. Their diet varies considerably with both geography and the changing seasons, but the main items are the sap of acacias and certain eucalypts, nectar, pollen, and arthropods. They are difficult to see in the wild, being small, wary, and nocturnal, but a sure sign of their presence is the stripping of bark and tooth marks left in the soft, green shoots of acacia trees.
