Structural Engineering document translation

EPIC Translations was selected to translate highly complex structural engineering documents from Korean to English.

It’s not an everyday occurrence when you have a client requesting a 300,000-word long translation of very complex documents related to Structural Engineering. Not only is the terminology unique, but linguists without education AND experience specifically in the field of Structural Engineering will lead to a translation that could have a substantial negative effect on the new buildings being planned in the target country. Here is a short translated phrase from one of these documents:

 

When unbalanced bending moment Mu is delivered between slab and column due to perpendicular load, wind load, earthquake or other transverse loads, it should be considered that unbalanced bending moment γ fMu is delivered by slab bending based on 0510.3.3 and other unbalanced moment γ fMu is delivered by sheer eccentricity for figure center of critical section defined by 0507.12.1(3)

 

Read on to see how we successfully managed such a project!

 

Requirements:

 

  1. Translate error-free Korean to English documents related to Structural Engineering
  2. Create a translation memory (TM) to reduce future translation costs

 

Fulfillment:

 

EPIC Translations created a custom workflow for this request. The customized work-flow had to ensure a quality driven translation that could be used in the target country to construct new buildings. A project plan was created and implemented to address the client’s aggressive timeline.

 

Linguistic Requirements:

 

Based on the client’s input, we agreed on the following requirements that all human resources engaged in this project must meet:

 

  1. Bachelors, Masters, or a PhD degree in Civil Engineering
  2. Five years of translation experience with technical documents
  3. Extensive knowledge of terminology related to Structural Engineering

 

When it was all said and done, this project had 12 translators, 1 editor, 1 project manager and 1 technical analyst.

 

Workflow:

 

Quality was vital to this project in order to ensure there are no misunderstandings that could potentially result in accidents during the construction process. Before we could start the translation, all files had to be x-translated in order to easily import into Trados to create a TM.

 

When documents have been x-translated, Trados can easily differentiate between source segments and target segments. EPIC Provisioning System (EPS) was used to ensure each file/document went thru the translation life cycle and to ensure all human resources working on the project were on the same page. Additionally, the client was able to log into EPS to see real-time status update for each file.

 

Once each file had been x-translated by the technical analyst, it went to the first translator. Upon completion, it then went to the second translator for a peer review to ensure not only accuracy but also to ensure that 100% of the content had been translated.

 

Once the second translator was done with the file, it went to the editor to make sure the correct use of terminology is taking place. The editor was a PhD graduate in Structural Engineering and had over 15 years of hands-on experience in this area.

 

Once each file was translated and edited, the technical analyst then imported the file into Trados to create a translation memory (TM) for this client. This TM would then be used by the client for reducing future translation related costs.

 

Conclusion:

 

All in all, the 2 weeks spent to recruit qualified linguistic resources for this project resulted in a successful completion that the client is well satisfied with. The project was completed on time and there were no budget overruns.

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