CASE Construction Equipment is calling for applicants for its third annual Dire States equipment grant. The grant provides $25,000 in free equipment toward a specific project of repairing or replacing a piece of crucial community infrastructure.

The grant is aimed at helping offset the cost of building or repairing local infrastructure and at bettering a community.

Applications are free and open to representatives of municipal, county and other local governments. Required information includes: project name, project location, project owner, project engineer/contractor and a description of the project.

Examples of suitable infrastructure for the grant are: "road/bridge repair or construction, utility pipe replacement, erosion control along lakes and rivers, wastewater system improvements, park/recreational construction" and "all projects that fall within the 16 core categories of infrastructure, as identified by the American Society of Civil Engineers in its Infrastructure Report Card."

Click HERE to be taken to the application and rules page. The deadline to apply for the grant is March 30, 2018 and the winning community will be decided in early April.