Diggerland USA construction equipment theme park officially sets grand opening for June 14

Updated May 8, 2014
JCB 8018 CTS compact excavators await their first riders at Diggerland USA.JCB 8018 CTS compact excavators await their first riders at Diggerland USA.

Diggerland USA, a construction equipment theme park currently under construction in West Berlin, New Jersey, officially announced this morning that it will open to the public Saturday June 14.

According to the announcement, gates will open at 10 a.m. and visitors will have access to 23 attractions mostly made up of JCB construction equipment modified to allow both kids and parents experience what it’s like to drive and dig with these machines.

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Inspired by four similar parks in the UK, the 14-acre Diggerland USA has come along pretty quickly. It was announced in January, broke ground in March, and over the last two weeks received shipments and began installing the construction equipment rides.

The rides include excavators, backhoes, skid steers telehandlers, site dumpers and the SpinDizzy which invites nine riders to climb aboard the bucket of a JCB JS220 excavator and be spun around while lifted and lowered.

Brothers Ilya and Yan Girlya are behind the park and are the owners of Sambe Construction Co. Inc. in Pennsauken, New Jersey. This is their second park after  Sahara Sam’s Water Park which is located next door to Diggerland USA.

“My family has a very personal connection to the project, just as we did with Sahara Sam’s five years ago,” Ilya Girlya said in a prepared statement. “Construction has been in my family for many years so it was a natural fit for us to build a construction theme park.”