Workers are digging up a field opposite Westerleigh Crematorium to provide up to 3,000 graves amid the coronavirus pandemic.
South Gloucestershire Council expects the site to be ready to operate, if needed, from next week.
It has put temporary traffic lights in place and coned off a section of Westerleigh Road while work goes on.
A large team of workers and diggers could be seen at the site this morning (April 20), with a large portion of the field already dug up.
A council spokesman said: “We are making a series of plans to manage an anticipated peak in demand for burial services caused by the Covid-19 outbreak and while this issue is being considered on a region-wide level through the Local Resilience Forum (LRF), we are making local arrangements as well.
"While we have capacity at our existing cemeteries at Kingswood and Mayshill, there is the potential that demand will outstrip our ability to bury larger numbers of people in short spaces of time in those places during the peak of Covid-related deaths.
“Therefore we have identified a council-owned site on Westerleigh Road, opposite the existing Westerleigh Crematorium, which will allow us to meet any increased peak demand, to hold burials with dignity and to ensure the safety of everyone involved."
The cemetery will have capacity for 3,000 graves, but the council does not believe that number is likely to be required.
Pucklechurch Parish Council chairwoman Gail Boyle said: "This land is owned by [the council].
"There is no intention of operating the site as a commercial council cemetery and so even if it is used for burials during the Covid-19 outbreak, there are no plans to use it beyond that time."
It comes after a makeshift mortuary was built in less than a week to increase capacity in Brislington.
The site at the Sandy Park vehicle depot can hold up to 240 bodies while they are stored ahead of funerals.
A total of 111 people have died with coronavirus in Bristol hospitals, according to figures released yesterday by NHS England.
Bristol has 454 confirmed cases and South Gloucestershire has 263, as of Public Health England's update yesterday.
We also asked Bristol City Council if it has plans to increase burial capacity in its area.
A spokesman said: "Bristol City Council has enough capacity on existing crematoriums and cemeteries, so is not expanding capacity."
