Ensuring Resilience in High Traffic Elements
Location: Berkeley, California Dates Poured: May 9, 2025At the University of California, Berkeley, history and innovation are converging. Switch Station 8, a structure originally constructed in 1904 as a power plant and later transformed into an art museum, is undergoing another transformation. This time into a substation that will enable the university to generate clean energy by 2030.
Fortera supplied ReAct® Blend for critical high traffic elements of the project which require proven resilience, including two main entrances, a staircase, and an outdoor recycling receptacle area. The mix incorporated a total supplementary cementitious material (SCM) content of 56%.
Concrete Poured (3.9 m3)
28-day Strength
CO2 Reduction
“The fresh-state properties of the concrete containing 12% Fortera ReAct Blend demonstrated impressive workability, was easy to both place and finish and performed very well at the Berkeley Substation 8 Project. It looks excellent in its hardened, finished state too, having a very light albedo.”
Eric Peterson, Director of Webcor Concrete Group
Mix Design
Cement Replacement: 56%
Aggregate: 1″ Orca / Orca Sand
W/CM: 0.45
Slump: 5″ (10 cm)
Air: 2%
Unit Weight: 155.6 lb/ft3 (2,377 kg/m3
Design Strength: 5,000 psi (21 MPa)
“The 56-day results from the UC Berkeley Substation #8 are impressive and speak to the strength of Fortera’s ReAct product. It performed as promised, and we’re encouraged by what this means for future applications.””
David Bischoff P.E., Senior Project Manager at Webcor Concrete Group
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