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| The Severn Bridge seen from the English side of the river. From 1966 to 1996, the bridge carried the M4 motorway. On completion of the Second Severn Crossing the road was renamed M48 |
The Severn Bridge ( Welsh: Pont Hafren) and the Second Severn Crossing (Welsh: Ail Groesfan Hafren) are two large bridges crossing the River Severn between England and Wales. The old suspension bridge was inaugurated on September 8, 1966, and the new cable-stayed bridge, a couple of miles to the south, was inaugurated on June 5, 1996.
The two Severn Bridges are nowadays generally regarded (at least by people in the south of England and South Wales) as the main crossing points from England into Wales, despite the fact that the two share a substantial land border. Prior to 1966 road traffic between the southern counties of Wales and the southern counties of England - including London - either had to travel via GloucesterThis is about Gloucester, England for other uses see Gloucester (disambiguation Gloucester (pronounced 'Gloster') is a city in south-west England, close to the Welsh border. In 1991 it had a population of 106,526. Traditionally Gloucester has been the cou or take a ferry, which ran, roughly along the line of the Severn Bridge, from AustSevern Bridge in the background. Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is near the eastern end of the Severn Bridge, which was built in 1966 to carry the M4 motorway (now the M48 motorway) over the route of the old Aust Ferry. to Beachley . The Anglo-WelshAnglo-Welsh literature is a term used to describe works written in the English language by Welsh writers, especially if they either have subject matter relating to Wales or (as in the case of Anglo-Welsh poetry in particular) are influenced by the Welsh l poet, Harri Webb , wrote these lines:
...a joke which was often repeated. The toll is indeed collected on the English side, and only on vehicles travelling from England to Wales. This arrangement eliminates the need for a set of toll booths for each direction of travel.
The old Severn Bridge is a 5240 feet (1597 metreFor other uses of "metre" and "meter", see Metre (disambiguation). The metre is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units (SI: Systeme International d'Unites). It is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in absolute vacus) long suspension bridge crossing the estuaryAn estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water which has a free connection with the open sea and within which sea water mixes with fresh water. The key feature of an estuary is that it is an interface between sea water and fresh water and there is an of the River Severn from South GloucestershireSouth Gloucestershire is a local government area in South West England. It was created in 1996 when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon. The district borders the city of Bristol, Bath and North East, just north of BristolThis article is about the English city of Bristol. For other uses please see Bristol (disambiguation). Bristol is a city in south-western England, on the River Avon. It borders on the Unitary Districts of Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and S, to Beachley , a peninsula of Gloucestershire between the Severn and Wye estuaries. The Severn Bridge runs continuously with the Wye Bridge , a 1340 ft (408 m) long cable-stayed bridge, of very different appearance, which crosses the border into Wales, 3 km south of Chepstow.
The bridge is in almost exactly the same location as the old Aust Ferry. The bridge was opened by Queen Elizabeth II, who hailed it as the dawn of a new economic era for South Wales.
The road was only two lanes each way, and as traffic volumes grew it became a major bottleneck. The burden of maintenance also became unmanageable, so that by the 1990s a second bridge was necessary.