Super-jumbo wings to go by water

The world's biggest jumbo jet is due to take to the skies in 2005 - thanks to waterway transport!

A new factory at Broughton, on the banks of the River Dee near Chester, was opened today by Prime Minister Tony Blair. The factory will build the wings for the Airbus A380 'super-jumbo' - but at 36 metres (40 yards) long, the wings are far too large to be transported by motorway or even by rail.

Instead, they will be shipped out by barge to Mostyn, further up the Dee Estuary. Here, they will be moved onto special roll-on roll-off ferries, which will carry them to the French port of Bordeaux. From there, they will be taken to Airbus's assembly plant at Toulouse.

Britain's rivers and ship canals could soon be seeing more cargoes of this size. The Government has recently announced that 'Abnormal Indivisible Loads' - enormous, single-part cargoes such as generators and transformers used in power stations - should be carried by water where possible. At present, many are transported along motorways, which have to be closed for the occasion.