tarpaulin 復習
博多駅前に突如開いた巨大陥没の復旧作業が急ピッチで進められています。
Fukuoka sinkhole road to be reopened to traffic
FUKUOKA -- Work to repair a road in front of JR Hakata Station here that was the site of a huge sinkhole had mostly been completed as of Nov. 14, with the road to be reopened to traffic as early as that night. According to sources including the Fukuoka Municipal Government, as of Nov. 13 all utilities like electricity, gas, water and communications that had been cut in some areas around the sinkhole had been restored, with sewer pipes reconnected and the hole filled in back to the surface. Next the filled-in hole was to be paved over, but heavy rain began falling early on Nov. 14 so the area was covered with a tarpaulin and work was put on hold. Depending on the weather, the reopening of the road could be delayed until Nov. 15.
The Fukuoka Regional Headquarters of the Japan Meteorological Agency says that on Nov. 14, some 10 millimeters of rain in a single hour was predicted, with a maximum of 40 millimeters predicted for the 24-hour period ending at 6 a.m. on Nov. 15.
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20161114/p2a/00m/0na/011000c
今回取り上げるのはtarpaulin /tɑɚpˈɔːlɪn/です。
LDOCEでは“a large heavy cloth or piece of thick plastic that water will not pass through, used to keep rain off things”と定義されており、『ジーニアス英和辞典』（第五版、大修館書店）では「（英）防水シート、（米）タープ」とありました。
Oxford dictionaries.com.では、おそらく道路舗装などで使われる「タール」の“tar”と「とばり、衣」の“pall”と“-ing”が合わさってできたと考えられているそうです。
たしかに、キャンプやバーベキューの時に用いる雨や日差しを避ける大きな布を「タープ」と呼ぶことを思い出しました。
ここでは雨よけのために巨大な「ブルーシート」が使われたそうです。（flyingbird）
