Abnormal loads which cause chaos on Britain's roads could be lured on to the waterways using a government-funded barge launched by transport minister David Jamieson at Westminster yesterday.

A £8.5m government grant has funded the building of the Terra Marique, an 80 metre, 2,000-tonne vessel capable of carrying bulky equipment such as power station turbines.

The barge is intended to tackle chronic congestion which builds up when an abnormally wide load has to be escorted by police around Britain's motorway network. Among its first jobs will be carrying a Concorde aircraft down the river Thames en route to its final destination at a museum in Scotland.

Mr Jamieson said it had been a long established aim of the government to get such loads off the roads: "Regular motorists will know how much disruption abnormal loads can cause on the roads. We are committed to a 'water-preferred' policy for moving the largest and heaviest abnormal loads around the country."

The AA Motoring Trust welcomed the initiative. Paul Watters, the trust's head of roads policy, said: "The worst problems tend to occur on two-lane motorways, where a wide load can effectively shut the whole road."