David Hayes Feb 3, 2012:

Just to clarify: I was not suggesting for one moment that 'tidal barrage' would be an appropriate choice of translation for this term. I was simply using it as example of where the adjective 'tidal' applies to a structure. I'm sure 'tidal lock gates' will not have any target readers wondering what is being referred to. I was just following the glossary (presumably written by someone with more than a passing interest in this matter) in opting for 'tide' rather than 'tidal'.

B D Finch (asker) Feb 3, 2012:

@David I think a 'tidal barrage' is more like the Thames Barrage than a lock. This does seem to be a lock for navigation, not just tide-water management. Anyway, the translation has gone off with "tidal lock gates". However, though I know many people use the (illogical) system of selecting the answer they happened to use in their translation, whether it was the best one or whether it was the current bee in their Client's bonnet, I shall wait for 24 hrs.

David Hayes Feb 3, 2012:

We do say 'tidal barrage' in English though, don't we Tony. In this instance I see more references on the Internet to 'tide gate' than 'tidal gate', but I can't help feeling it's a matter of convention rather than strict logic.

Tony M Feb 3, 2012:

Not bad Quite a good idea, Barbara — though I have to admit (being in no way any kind of expert here!) that the use of the adjective 'tidal' seems odd to me — it applies OK in 'tidal range' or 'tidal basin', but I don't see how 'gates' can really be 'tidal'. Cf. also another instance where 'tide' is used rather than 'tidal': a 'tide mill'

B D Finch (asker) Feb 3, 2012:

How about 'downstream tidal lock gates'? www.history.army.mil/html/reference/Normandy/TS/.../COE16.htm
"Damage to tidal lock gates seriously affected the wet basins at Le Havre. ... Later repairs along the Tancarville Canal, ..."

Tony M Feb 3, 2012:

OK, so not just lock-gate, then! Right, well now we know it's a tidal thing (Tancarville, of course – doh!), that certainly confirms the downstream bit.

I can't help feeling 'sluice gate' may be down-selling (!) it a bit: the 'sluices' are usually the little things you open to let the water into / out of a lock until it reaches the same level as outside so you can open the big gates. Since this is presumably not a drainage scenario, but an action navigation canal, I'd have imagined these more as sort of lock gates that are simply opened when the tide is at the right level to allow free passage — as one sees on the Rhijn Canal near Amsterdam, where I sorely remember one day getting stuck on the wrong side of the lock gates, and having to wait till the tide turned to cross back over!

B D Finch (asker) Feb 3, 2012:

Found definition in French: "Porte de flot : portes d'écluses qui laissant les eaux du marais s'écouler quand le niveau extérieur est plus bas, se referment quand ce niveau remonte sous l'effet de la marée. "
http://gestion.hydrau.free.fr/lexique.htm

B D Finch (asker) Feb 3, 2012:

Oops! Yes, of course it is "downstream", embarrassing slip.

No, it isn't in the bit I quote, because the references provided are not from my source text, which is confidential. However, there is no further context in it, so your guess is as good as mine. It is just one item in a list of engineering projects. I did get the impression, from a definition I found on the web and subsequently lost, that "porte de flot" was not simply any old "lock gate", but one that specifically controlled water flow according to tides. That is why I was thinking of "sluice gate".

Tony M Feb 3, 2012:

tête Where does the 'tête' bit come into your text, Barbara? Can't seem to see it in the part you quote?