Mark Smith, Director Advanced Technical Services, Transport for NSW

Transport for NSW (TfNSW) Infrastructure Program- An Overview

The NSW Government is delivering the largest transport infrastructure program this nation has ever seen - $76.7 billion of investment over four years for game-changing projects like Sydney Metro, light rail, motorways, and road upgrades that will shape NSW cities, centres and communities for generations to come. As the delivery body for this once-in-a-generation infrastructure spend, our vision at Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is to be a custodian of modern and connected roads and public transport network that gives people the freedom to choose how and when they get around, no matter where they live and work. In doing so, this development is making NSW a better place to live and work by connecting people and communities through making journeys safer, easier, and more reliable.

The keynote presentation will showcase selected road, rail and tunnelling projects featuring some of the most complex and challenging aspects across our portfolio.


Mark is currently, Director Advanced Technical Services, within the Infrastructure & Place division of Transport for NSW, leading a team of specialists and subject matter experts across a range of infrastructure disciplines and across modes. He currently is accountable for the delivery of project support, standards development, and delivery as well as leading innovation, knowledge management, capability building and sustainability outcomes across a broad portfolio of transport infrastructure projects and programs.

With more than 20 years of executive accountability in public and private sector, Mark has a proven track record of building teams and operating effectively across large enterprises in Australia and overseas. Mark presents transport systems delivery credentials across a range of procurement models and delivery environments and has a proven capability in establishing and maintaining governance, assurance and integration protocols and controls that have delivered successful safety and asset management practice and outcomes.

Having delivered major transport projects and professional services across the entire asset & project lifecycle including feasibility, concept and detailed design, construction, commissioning and operation, Mark has demonstrated the ability to understand, interpret and proactively manage complex project interactions and whole-of-life operational considerations in a pragmatic way for the benefit of the business, the client, the project, the asset and the system as a whole.

Mark is a recognized Chartered Electrical Engineer and a Fellow of Engineers Australia and a recognized ‘Executive Engineer’ with the college of leadership and management, holding complementary MBA and ‘Executive Masters in Public Administration’ (EMPA) qualifications accredited by the Australian & New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG).

Professor Simon Clark, Macquarie University

Formation and Migration of an Iron Rich Layer During Acidic Corrosion of Concrete with no Steel Reinforcement

The observation of an iron rich layer below the surface of reinforced concrete prior to spalling has led to the assumption that mobilized iron from rebar plays a role in cracking and delamination in reinforced concrete. Here we demonstrate that concrete with no rebar can also contain the same iron rich layer which is likewise associated with cracking and delamination. A range of experimental techniques were used to understand the chemistry of the formation and migration of the iron rich layer and the underlying mechanisms that lead to spalling.


Simon Clark is a Professor in the School of Engineering at Macquarie University who studies the underlying physical and chemical processes that control the formation and durability of construction materials. He has worked on a large range of processes since his Master's degree study of Aerated Concrete at Birkbeck College in London, studies of the formation of cement phases such as tobermorite in Manchester University, understanding alkali silicate reaction in Berkeley and now working on alkali activated cements and cement corrosion at Macquarie University.