High strength concrete with a specified compressive cylinder strength of up to 70 MPa for ductile elements in seismic design and of up to 100 MPa for other elements is now permitted by the recently revised New Zealand concrete design standard NZS 3101:1995. Also, longitudinal reinforcement with a characteristic yield strength of up to 500 MPa is allowed, and for transverse reinforcement in strength calculations a useable steel stress of up to 500 MPa for shear strength and 800