NEDERLAND — At this rodeo one won’t see any horses or bulls.

That’s because this is a Road-eo.

Brent Weaver, Precinct 2 county commissioner, explained it as Jefferson County will host the Texas Local Technical Assistance Program (TxLTAP) — a Heavy Equipment Expo Road-eo on January 18 at Ford Park parking lot in Beaumont.

This event will be at no cost to Jefferson County. Participants will be on duty from Jefferson County Road & Bridge precincts as well as employees who operate heavy equipment and/or dump trucks or similar equipment from surrounding counties and cities.

TxLTAP is a grant funded by Texas Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration. The University of Texas at Arlington is the performing agency for the grant.

“TxLTAP is focused on preserving and enhancing the local road system by delivering quality training and technical assistance to local city/county road agencies in Texas. They offer free training all over the state, and sponsor events such as Heavy Equipment Expos or Rodeos, Snow and Ice Workshops and even Gravel Roads Academies as well as many other types of training for road & bridge crews,” Weaver wrote in an email.

In order to deliver these types of workshops, they ask various cities and counties around the state to help provide a location for the events. The remainder of the work for the class or the event is provided through the TxLTAP program.

“They set up the course at the location. The training will be held at the parking lot at Ford Park,” he wrote. “They send out notices and invites to surrounding counties and cities to participate in the training for their public work employees who operate heavy equipment and dump trucks or similar equipment.”

While the expo is a “friendly” competition, they make sure the event is focused around safety awareness and increasing on the job skills for heavy equipment operators.

“The training provided through this program will increase the performance, safety and training of the participants in their duties in a safe, efficient, environmentally sound, and cost effective manner,” Weaver stated. “This is the same program other counties have hosted in the past. This program will also allow city/county agencies to maximize benefits from their often-limited fiscal and staffing resources.