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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- A collaborative group of engineers and contractors who worked on building a bridge over Little Cedar Creek received an award Friday for their groundbreaking work.

The bridge is the first in the nation to use high performance concrete and was one of seven projects in the country to be selected for the award.

The bridge is hyper-durable and does not allow water or salt to penetrate its surface, causing it to weaken over time. That means it saves the county a lot of money not having to do pothole maintenance and repair and the bridge will last much longer than others.

Brian Moore, of the Wapello County Engineer's Office, the Bloomfield Bridge and Culvert, Lafarge North America and Coreslab Structures all worked on the project.

"This was our second project, first of its kind in the nation and in some cases, North America, so it's been a really wonderful experience and its nice to see it come together in such a successful way," Moore said.

Now that this project is complete, the county engineer's office will look towards their next endeavor.

The awards were chosen by three professionals in the bridge industry and the comments on Wapello County's project called it "appealing, handsome and elegant".