Park nearly complete, construction equipment rides begin arriving at Diggerland USA

Updated May 20, 2014
diggerland spin dizzy bucket

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With an expected grand opening of June 14th, Diggerland USA is gradually piecing together the first construction equipment theme park in the country.

Officials broke ground on the site in March and since then Diggerland has been posting photos of the machines-turned-rides as they come in to the Berlin Township, New Jersey site on its Facebook page.

Some of those machines include a truckload of Terex TA1EH site dumpers for the Dumper Trucks obstacle course, military trucks for a ride called “Camo Quest” and  turnpike tractors, small vehicles that look like something out of the movie “Cars.”

The latest shipment included the modified bucket for what will likely be one of the park’s biggest attractions: the Spin Dizzy. Nine people climb aboard the bucket of a JCB JS220 excavator and are spun around while being lifted and lowered.

A daunting four-story ropes course is being installed as well and the park will feature many more rides including:

  • Backhoe Adventure: take turns driving a a modified JCB 3CX backhoe on a “mystery tour”
  • Sky Shuttle: a modified JCB 540-170 Telehandler that lifts 15 riders 50 feet into the air
  • Giant Diggers: adults can climb aboard a CB 8065 midi excavator and dig around
  • Big Diggers: kids can operate a JCB compact excavator
  • Skid Steers: operate a JCB Robot Skidsteer Loader 135 in an obstacle course

In a recent interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Ilya and Yan Girlya, the brothers behind Diggerland USA, said work on the park is 85 percent complete. The brothers own Sambe Construction Co. Inc. in Pennsauken, New Jersey and built Sahara Sam’s Water Park adjacent to where Diggerland is being built today.

“We want Diggerland USA to be a place where families can do something together that they can’t do anywhere else,” Ilya Girlya told the Inquirer.

The park is inspired by four other Diggerland locations, all in the UK. More rides are expected to be delivered soon and are currently awaiting approval at U.S. Customs at the Port of New York and New Jersey. You can see the full list of rides and purchase advance tickets at the Diggerland USA website.