OK

Beigbeder Technical dictionary Spanish English, and Maritime dictionary Julián Amich: part of the carcase under water level, in other words, the line of maximum charge downward.

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Note added at 16 mins (2007-06-16 09:21:55 GMT)
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I meant ship bottoms. ( a few letters escaped) please corredct my answer)

see former note, there was an error in typing

Son blindage était également réputé résistant à tous les calibres d'obus existants lors de son lancement : une carapace de 120 à 200 millimètres d'épaisseur protège toute les œuvres vives du bâtiment.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirpitz_(cuirassé)

les œuvres vives du bâtiment - in this text it is indeed in reference to a ship. Are you sure that your text is about something 'land based'? and that you aren't be mislead by the word bâtiment?

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Note added at 2 hrs (2007-06-16 11:36:44 GMT)
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My tech dictionary also gives bâtiment as ship, vessel....

This question came up in another forum, q.v. http://forum.wordreference.com/archive/index.php/t-291564.ht... "hi!
any idea how to say "oeuvres vives" in english? here's a definition in french:
Les œuvres vives d'un navire sont la partie immergée de la coque, par opposition aux "œuvres mortes (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Œuvres_mortes)" qui est tout ce qui dépasse de l'eau."

radjane dessama:

quick-works = oeuvres vives
topsides = oeuvres mortes

There are a lot of terms out there, it seems, maybe suggesting that it is a term/concept not particularly commonplace in the English way of things. Of the following, my own preference would be "underside", but I'm a layman and would not have known what "oeuvres vives" were without a dictionary.

Les œuvres vives d'un navire sont la partie immergée de la coque, par opposition aux "œuvres mortes" qui est tout ce qui dépasse de l'eau. ...
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Œuvres_vives

This suggests there is no simple English equivalent:
only that PORTION OF THE HULL BETWEEN THE WATER. LINE AND THE KEEL, otherwise known as the. œuvres vives (‘live works’). 17. But French care`ne ...
nq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/53/3/306.pdf

Oeuvres vives. UNDERWATER HULL. Radio receiver. Récepteur radio (m). Orin (m) ... Spi asymétrique (m). Cruising chute. Underwater hull. Oeuvres vives ...
jeanneau.tripod.com/translations.htm

BOTTOM obras vivas fondo oeuvres-vives
http://www.yachting-life.net/new index/frames/translations_f...

coque, hull. cordage, line. corps-mort, moorings. cosse, thimble. côte, coast. démanilleur, shackle opener ... oeuvres vives, UNDER WORKS. orin, buoy rope ...
www.lexique-jo.org/liste4.cfm?rubrique=VOIL

UNDERSIDE, oeuvres vives fpl. undertow, ressac m. (be) under way, courir sur son erre v ... wetted area (of hull), carène f. wharf, quai m ...
www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~kjt/sailing/eng-fr-qz.html

Oeuvres vives - QUICK WORKS Orage - Thunderstorm Ouest - West ...
www.voilesnews.fr/fr/info_70_4362.html

hull, coque, κύτος / γάστρα .... UNDER WORKS, oeuvres vives, ύφαλα / βρεχάμενα. buoy rope, orin, σχοινί σημαντήρα. shortened course, parcours réduit ...
www.lexique-jo.org/2004/lexique.cfm?lang=en&rubrique=VOIL&v...


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Note added at 12 hrs (2007-06-16 21:59:18 GMT)
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Sorry, not paying attention!

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Note added at 12 hrs (2007-06-16 22:02:32 GMT)
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Not a usual expression as far as I am aware, but it seems to be referring to (critical ) structural parts. Does it say, for example, that any works involving change to these "oeuvres vives" must be approved by the architect or a structural engineer, say?