The Severn Bridge sometimes also called the Severn–Wye Bridge, is a motorway suspension bridge spanning the River Severn and River Wye between Aust, South Gloucestershire (just north of Bristol) in England, and Chepstow, Monmouthshire in South East Wales, via Beachley, Gloucestershire, a peninsula between the two rivers. It is the original Severn road crossing between England and Wales, and took three-and-a-half years to construct at a cost of £8 million. It replaced the Aust ferry.
The bridge was opened on 8 September 1966, by Queen Elizabeth II, who hailed it as the dawn of a new economic era for South Wales. The bridge was granted Grade I listed status on 26 November 1999.
From 1966 to 1996, the bridge carried the M4 motorway. Upon the completion of the Second Severn Crossing, the motorway from Olveston (England) to Magor (Wales) was renamed the M48.