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vingt-quatre pouces espacés du centre de la traverse
tenir jauge
Apr 19, 2010 15:55
14 yrs ago
French term

en exigeant que la traverse soit remplacée

French to English Tech/Engineering Transport / Transportation / Shipping railway tie specification
La prévision de la durée de vie des traverses sera de 50 ans en minimum. La traverse supportera le poids et les forces dynamiques du rail et des trains sans échec, *en exigeant que la traverse soit remplacée.*

The fact that this document has a lot of errors makes me unsure of what is being said here. It seems as if they wouldn't expect to replace the tie for 50 years. The present participle and comma seem odd to me. Does it mean "..without failure that would require the replacement of the tie"?
Proposed translations (English)
4 that would require the replacement of the tie
4 defective sleepers (ties) being replaced.
3 , while requiring that the ties be replaced
1 +1 provided the sleeper is replaced

Discussion

MatthewLaSon Apr 20, 2010:
"Faulty" text Yes, I'm afraid you're going to have go on instinct here, which is very unfortunate with a technical text like this.

Machine-translated? Ouchh!!

Best of luck and let us know how you get on this.
Graham macLachlan Apr 20, 2010:
As I see it, there can only be two interpretations La traverse supportera le poids et les forces dynamiques en exigeant que la traverse soit remplacée.
OR
Un échec qui exige que la traverse soit remplacée.

One version makes sense, the other doesn't
Kate Deimling (asker) Apr 20, 2010:
problematic syntax I also would have expected a phrasing such as what you suggested at the end, or "sans échec qui exigerait que la traverse soit remplacée." But the only logical meaning to me is that the failure would *not* require the replacement of the tie (as in Graham's translation agreeing with mine). The more I look at this document, the more parts I find where it seems to have been translated (machine-translated?) from English into French. At one point, "traverse" was even called "cravate"! I think this may be what's going on here, since in English one could say, "without failure requiring that the tie be replaced" though the present participle is not used this way in French. This is all very frustrating, because of an English version of parts of these specifications exists somewhere, why on earth didn't they provide it to the English-speaking client (who is now my client)? I guess the moral of the story is to read over assignments more carefully before accepting them, because if I had done so I would have accepted the contract portion and refused the faulty specifications portion.
MatthewLaSon Apr 20, 2010:
Looking at the grammar "En exigeant que la traverse soit remplacé" can only mean one of two things, imho: by OR while requiring the tie to be replaced. I personally thought it meant "while" here.

Are they talking about replacing an old tie with one that is expected to last 50 years or more? It's hard to say.

You say the text is littered with errors. That's not good, particularly for a technical document. LOL.

If what you suspect is the meaning, the French should have said "sans exiger que celle-ci (la traverse) soit remplacée."

Proposed translations

5 hrs
Selected

that would require the replacement of the tie

I think you've read it correctly, that is to say, "en exigeant que la traverse soit remplacée" qualifies "échec"; it reads like spoken French so perhaps it's comes from dictation

and of course "traverse" is "tie" or "sleeper" depending on which side of the pond you are standing (you could even call it a "transverse" if you want to be pedantic)

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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks for your help! I think this is the only answer that is logical, interpreting it in spite of the faulty translation (I've seen similar examples in the same document)."
+1
12 mins

provided the sleeper is replaced

provided the sleeper is replaced ?
Note from asker:
"provided the sleeper is replaced" would mean that it won't fail if it is replaced (which doesn't really make sense, right, because if it is replaced then it is no longer the same tie/sleeper). Aren't they saying that for fifty years it is expected not to have a failure that would require replacement?
Peer comment(s):
agree MatthewLaSon : Yes, "provided" works well here, should you choose to be less literal.
5 hrs
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13 mins

defective sleepers (ties) being replaced.

* A kind of guarantee clause. 50 year normal sleeper life.
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5 hrs

, while requiring that the ties be replaced

Hello,

Perhaps you could word it this way.

It's the "en" that is giving you problems, isn't it? It has various meanings when preceded by a present participle, depending on context.

en exigeant = while requiring

Another example:

Je me suis endormi en lisant = I fell asleep while reading

I hope this helps.


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Note added at 5 hrs (2010-04-19 21:41:12 GMT)
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Yes, I used the subjunctive here in English. I still believe it's more correct. LOL.

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Note added at 7 hrs (2010-04-19 23:45:00 GMT)
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I believe that they also could have written it "tout en exigeant que..."
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