The River Severn, at 220 miles (354 km) long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of 107 m3/s (3,800 cu ft/s) at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in the Cambrian Mountains in mid Wales, at an altitude of 2,001 feet (610 m), on the Plynlimon massif, which lies close to the Ceredigion/Powys border near Llanidloes. The river then flows through Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. The county towns of Shrewsbury, Worcester and Gloucester lie on its course.
The River Usk rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain, Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially forming the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys, it flows north into Usk Reservoir, then east by Sennybridge to Brecon before turning southeast to flow by Talybont-on-Usk, Crickhowell and Abergavenny, after which it takes a more southerly course.
The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely complete by 1980, though a non-motorway section around Briton Ferry bridge remained until 1993. On the opening of the Second Severn Crossing in 1996, the M4 was rerouted over it.
The Second Severn Crossing, officially named the Prince of Wales Bridge since July 2018, is the M4 motorway bridge over the River Severn between England and Wales, opened in 1996 to supplement the traffic capacity of the Severn Bridge built in 1966. The bridge is operated by England's National Highways. It has a total length of 5,128 metres (16,824 ft).
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales and South West England. It extends from the smaller Severn Estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean. It takes its name from the English city and port of Bristol.
The A48 is a trunk road in Great Britain running from the A40 at Highnam, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Gloucester, England, to the A40 at Carmarthen, Wales. Before the Severn Bridge opened on 8 September 1966, it was a major route between England and South Wales. For most of its route, it runs almost parallel to the M4 motorway. During times of high winds at the Severn Bridge, the A48 is used as part of the diversion route and is still marked as a Holiday Route.
The M48 is a 13-mile-long (21 km) motorway in Great Britain, which crosses the Severn near Chepstow, Monmouthshire, linking England with Wales via the Severn Bridge. This road used to be the M4, and as a result is anomalously numbered: as it lies to the north of the M4 and to the west of the M5, it is in the Motorway Zone 5. The M4, M48 and the A48(M) motorway are the only motorways in Wales.
Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Bristol and about 28 miles (45 km) south west of Gloucester. It is located on the eastern side of the Severn estuary, close to the eastern end of the Severn Bridge which carries the M48 motorway. The village has a chapel, a church and a public house. There is a large area of farmland on the river bank, which is sometimes flooded due to the high tidal range of the Severn. Aust Cliff, above the Severn, is located about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the village. The civil parish of Aust includes the villages of Elberton and Littleton-upon-Severn.
European route E30 is an A-Class European route from the port of Cork in Ireland in the west to the Russian city of Omsk, near the border with Kazakhstan in the east. For much of the Russian stretch, it follows the Trans-Siberian Highway and, east of the Ural Mountains, with AH6 of the Asian Highway Network, which continues to Busan, South Korea. The total length is 6,530 km (4,060 mi)—3,300 km (2,100 mi) from Cork to Moscow, and 3,230 km (2,010 mi) from Moscow to Omsk. The naming is by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
Beachley is a village in Gloucestershire, England, near the border with Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located on a peninsula at the confluence of the rivers Wye and Severn, where the Severn Bridge ends and the smaller secondary bridge over the River Wye begins, both bridges carrying the M48 motorway between England and Wales though the motorway is not directly accessible from the village. The tidal range on this stretch of water is the highest in the UK. Before the construction of the bridge it was a ferry port from where the Aust Ferry operated until 1966. The population in 2011 was 764.
The Severn Estuary is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its very high tidal range, approximately 50 feet (15 m), creates valuable intertidal habitats and has led to the area being at the centre of discussions in the UK regarding renewable tidal energy.
Tidenham is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean of west Gloucestershire, England, adjoining the Welsh border. Tidenham is bounded by the River Wye to the west and the River Severn to the south. Offa's Dyke runs through the western part of the parish, terminating at Sedbury cliff above the River Severn.
The Severn Bridge is a motorway suspension bridge that spans the River Severn between South Gloucestershire in England and Monmouthshire in South East Wales. It is the original Severn road crossing between England and Wales, and took three and a half years to build, at a cost of £8 million. It replaced the 137-year-old Aust Ferry.
Aust Ferry or Beachley Ferry was a ferry service that operated across the River Severn between Aust and Beachley, both in Gloucestershire, England. Before the Severn Bridge opened in 1966, it provided service for road traffic crossing between the West Country and South Wales. The nearest fixed crossing was a 60-mile (97 km) round trip to Gloucester.
The Severn Barrage is any of a range of ideas for building a barrage from the English coast to the Welsh coast over the Severn tidal estuary. Ideas for damming or barraging the Severn estuary have existed since the 19th century. The building of such a barrage would constitute an engineering project comparable with some of the world's biggest. The purposes of such a project have typically been one or several of: transport links, flood protection, harbour creation, or tidal power generation. In recent decades it is the latter that has grown to be the primary focus for barrage ideas, and the others are now seen as useful side-effects. Following the Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study (2008–10), the British government concluded that there was no strategic case for building a barrage but to continue to investigate emerging technologies. In June 2013 the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee published its findings after an eight-month study of the arguments for and against the Barrage. MPs said the case for the barrage was unproven. They were not convinced the economic case was strong enough and said the developer, Hafren Power, had failed to answer serious environmental and economic concerns.
Portskewett is a village and community (parish) in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located four miles south west of Chepstow and one mile east of Caldicot, in an archaeologically sensitive part of the Caldicot Levels on the Welsh shore of the Severn Estuary. The Second Severn Crossing passes overhead carrying the M4 motorway. The community includes Sudbrook, Crick and Leechpool.
Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study is the name of a UK Government feasibility study into a tidal power project looking at the possibility of using the huge tidal range in the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel to generate electricity.
Portskewett Pier was a station on the Bristol & South Wales Union Railway. The pier at Black Rock, near Portskewett, was the Welsh side of the New Passage Ferry across the River Severn. The ferry linked rail services between Bristol and South Wales, avoiding the previous long detour through Gloucester. The ferry service lasted for nearly twenty five years, from 1863 to 1886, until the opening of the railway tunnel beneath the river.
