A joint £80 million project by South Gloucestershire and Bristol City Councils and the Environment Agency, is being designed to protect the Avonmouth Severnside Enterprise Area (ASEA) and 2,500 homes against the possibility of rare but severe flooding.
The scheme will also create at least 80 hectares of new wetland habitats for internationally important birdlife.
The work, along a 17 kilometer stretch of the Severn Estuary shoreline, will include new and heightened defenses against predicted rises in sea levels brought about by a changing climate. Construction work is planned to take place, in stages, from 2018/19.
According to the council, the scheme is designed to protect an area from the River Avon and Avonmouth Docks to Aust Cliff, near the original Severn Crossing (M48), including Avonmouth and Severnside, for at least 60 years.
The council also reported that the type of defenses required will vary depending on the needs in each area. In most cases they will build upon existing structures and flood banks.