The barge barely managed to squeeze under Gainsborough bridge

The Terra Marique, a 2,210-tonne barge, carried a 270-tonne transformer to the Cottam power station in Nottinghamshire in a two-day journey from the Lincolnshire coast.

The river trip means the heavy load did not cause disruption to road-users, British Waterways said.

The barge carried a Concorde from London to a Scottish museum in April.

Scraping the bottom

"We believe the Terra Marique is the largest vessel ever to navigate the River Trent upstream of Gainsborough," barge owner Robert Wynn and Sons said in a statement.

The largest vessel to navigate the river previously was 55m long by 9m wide, whereas the Terra Marique is 80m long and 16.5m wide.

The vessel was grounded for two hours - we had to wait while we were refloated Peter Wynn Managing director

The barge managed to squeeze under the centuries-old Gainsborough Bridge on Friday with only a few feet to spare.

The heavy load would have tied up traffic for hours on the road system - moving at speeds of between five and 12 mph, managing director Peter Wynn said.

"We are really challenging the limits of our waterway system," Mr Wynn said.

"We were constantly scraping the bottom of the canal - at one point we were delayed below Gainsborough as the tide fell.

"The vessel was grounded for two hours - we had to wait while we were refloated."

After the generator is unloaded, the barge will return to the coast on Tuesday.