Casino Pier was the site of a unique feat Monday afternoon, as crews from a local company successfully moved the Pirate’s Hideaway rollercoaster – both the ride and the building it’s housed in – all at once, from one side of the pier to the other.
The ride is being moved as part of the pier’s expansion, which is currently underway on its north side. To make room for the current pier and the expansion to connect as one, the rollercoaster had to be moved from the north side of the pier to the far eastern edge of the pier.
It took crews from DeVooght House & Building Movers, based in Brick, several hours to move the structure, with workers meticulously moving each wheel of the platform on which the ride was hoisted into a perfect position during the inch-by-inch transport.
Jason DeVooght, co-owner of the company, said his employees have been working for days on the project.
“We’ve been here for five days installing steel, rigging it and lifting it,” he said.
The job was a tricky one, given the limited amount of space on the pier, but the company pulled it off flawlessly.
“We had to turn it about three times on the pier here” to get the perfect position, DeVooght said.
