Alison Sabedoria (X) Mar 18, 2011:

Dredging is dredging Way back in my mis-spent youth I frequented a number of ne'er-do-wells who "worked" on the canals ("work" was activity undertaken when the pub was shut!), one of whom dredged for British Waterways. Dredging was the term used for both the activity and the project. From a web search of various harbour-draught improvement projects, this seems to be the term in general use.

Tony M Mar 18, 2011:

cale Yes, I too have come across 'cale' being used for all kinds of 'docks', not just dry ones.

I think they're just trying to say "to accommodate craft of greater draught", only are getting themselves a bit tied up!

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Mar 18, 2011:

USe of the word "cale" I've seen and heard the term used for dock and for slip(way).
Anything that can be udnerwater partially or wholly, dock or slipway may need "unsludging" (Nikkispeak).
We can only get bogged down until the ASker has cleared this up... puns intended!

Graham macLachlan Mar 18, 2011:

OK, you can dredge a slip in that sense But in this instance, the key word is "cale" and not "slip".

"cale" does not indicate a channel between piers of wharves = Quai incliné construit en partie sous l'eau et qui permet le chargement et le déchargement.

Equivalent to "slip" as defined by the OED: An artificial slope of stone or other solid material, built or made beside a navigable water to serve as a landing-place.

Bourth (X) Mar 18, 2011:

Why can you not dredge a slip? In the sense (US usage) of "a water channel between piers or wharves, used for the docking of ships" as given by Websters?

Graham macLachlan Mar 18, 2011:

talking silt You can't dredge a slip and a dry dock would have to be abandoned for it to be silted up.

At a guess, it is more likely to be a small harbour where boats tie up to a slip. The harbour where I live is like that and the locals call it the "cale". You could dredge either side of a slip.

Can't the asker put us out of our misery with some more context?

Bourth (X) Mar 17, 2011:

"tirant d'eau des embarcations" Yes, there is ellipsis.
Logically what they mean is that if the slip is dredged or otherwise cleared of its sediment, "vessels of greater draught" than those that can currently be admitted will be able to use it. A matter of reading between the words. As we have seen above, the greatest draught of a vessel that can be safely admitted to an area is "transposed" to become the draught of that area, here the cale.

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Mar 17, 2011:

Dear ASker Please could we have the complete sentence set in a little bit of context. I'm sure that would help clear the water a little ;-)

Graham macLachlan Mar 17, 2011:

similarly if we take "cale" to be "hold", then removing silt from the hold would lighten the boat andmake it sit higher in the water, effectively reducing the draught rather than increasing it

Graham macLachlan Mar 17, 2011:

yeah but if we take "cale" to be "dry dock", it says the desilting of the dry dock will increase the draught "des embarcations" and not "de la cale"

Bourth (X) Mar 17, 2011:

Port Taranaki this week completed a 19-month dredging project to take its OPERATING DRAUGHt from 10 metres to 12.5 metres. [ ... ] who've all got vessels currently that could have gone deeper than OUR PREVIOUS DRAUGHT. So that now releases them to go down to their FULL LOADED DRAUGHT. [ ... ] He said PORT TARANAKI'S EXTENDED DRAUGHT and swinging basin would be crucial to handling the potentially "huge contract"
http://www.porttaranaki.co.nz/General/newsArchive.htm

Cette infrastructure, qui représentera un investissement de plus de 380 millions d'euros, consistera à une extension du TIRANT D'EAU DU PORT actuel de 8 m à ...
www.droitmaritime.com/article.php3?id_article=467
le faible TIRANT D'EAU DU PORT DE COTONOU comparativement aux ports concurrents de la sous région (13 - 15m/ Port d'Abidjan par exemple) ...
www.memoireonline.com/.../m_Gestion-des-terminaux-a-contene... de-Cotonou-Benin17
Le TIRANT D'EAU DU PORT DE PLAISANCE étant de 7 m, les grandes unités peuvent y accéder commodément. Une écluse relie le port de plaisance au Rhône et les ...
www.ouestprovence.fr/index.php?id=825&no...1...

Bourth (X) Mar 17, 2011:

English/French extensions of meaning The HARBOUR'S DRAUGHT is maximum 5.5 - 6.0 metres. With regard to safe navigation in the harbour, ships cannot extend 130 metres. Railroad transport ...
www.dansteel.dk/1/284/Shipping.html

The HARBOUR DRAUGHT will be increased to 16 m, so that it will be possible to handle the new generation of container ships, with a capacity of 6000 TEUs, ...
www.blg.de/index.php?id=451&L=1

Septimus had listened to the tale of disappearing ships, reappearing ships, whales, crates, statues, insurance and the HARBOUR DRAUGHT at La Rochelle. ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=0802139876...
Maximum inner HARBOUR DRAUGHT: 3,00 m Maximum length: 32 m No. of ...
www.ports-directory.com/Marina-Stuff/9215.../View-details.h...

Bourth (X) Mar 17, 2011:

That said, a port might say it has a tirant d'eau being the maximum draught of vessels that can safely berth there, so metonymically speaking, it is not incorrect to use the term for "depth of water".

Bourth (X) Mar 17, 2011:

Sense Indeed, tirant d'eau is very often misused, referring not to the draught of a vessel but to the depth of water in which the vessel sits. Similarly, for bridges (road, rail, etc.), tirant d'air is said not of the height of the bridge (road, rail, etc.)) deck above the waterline but to the height between the waterline and the underside of the bridge (road, rail, etc.).

Graham macLachlan Mar 17, 2011:

the sentence doesn't make sense is it really the sentence you have to translate?
if it is, could you post a bit more of the text?
if it isn't, could you post the real sentence?