The South Park Bridge, already the recipient of numerous awards, has been named the best bridge project in the United States for 2015 by Roads and Bridges magazine.

The national awards have recognized the project’s design, preservation, and engineering a year after King County Executive Dow Constantine led the opening celebration.

The bridge over the Duwamish Waterway in south Seattle is an important link in the region’s transportation system and an alternative for Renton residents trying to reach the Boeing Field area from the south.

Many of the awards King County and its contractors have received for the South Park Bridge praise the drawbridge’s energy-efficient design that can raise both 3.5-million-pound drawspans with the same amount of energy it takes to drive a Toyota Prius, according to a King County press release.

Constantine created a public-private partnership to fund construction of the new drawbridge, which is a key industrial corridor connecting communities along the Duwamish River.

“Award-winning construction projects like South Park Bridge demonstrate our ability to deliver results,” said Executive Constantine. “National recognition for our infrastructure projects is important because it shows that, even in an era of federal gridlock and budget shortfalls, we can get the job done.”

The latest award from Roads & Bridges honors projects that excel at meeting project challenges and positively impacts its region, according to the press release.

With two piers capped by brick-surfaced control towers and a sweeping bascule design, the new bridge recreates the look of its predecessor, which was torn down in 2010 due to safety concerns. King County Department of Transportation managed the project.

The new bridge 14th Avenue South/16th Avenue South carries 20,000 vehicles and nearly 3,000 heavy-duty trucks each day as well as an estimated 10 million tons of freight each year, including aerospace parts to local Boeing facilities.