Impossible Deadline

The article in attachment IMSpaving100309 discusses the ongoing push to complete the brick paving of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in time for a desired November 1 race. This article was published October 3, 1909, in the Indianapolis Star.
 
Considering the date and an excerpt from the article reads, "it is expected the pavement will be finished quite a while before the next automobile meeting," the tough challenge they had to finish the project quickly is apparent. The article states further that Speedway officials wanted to provide the drivers and teams two weeks to practice on the track.
 
The article reports that the program for the hoped for November 1 race meet was as yet undetermined. However, it asserts that the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy Race that was canceled despite completion of more than half the distance in August would be run in November. The article also claims that a frequently discussed 24-hour race would be conducted. Neither of the events nor the November 1 race meet ever materialized. The Speedway did host some time trials in teeth of icy weather in December little more than a week before Christmas.
 
As reported elsewhere this article shares that the cost of the paving project was $180,000. Also reported in previous articles but repeated here, the National Paving Brick Manufacturers' Association supervised on the project because its innovative nature had implications for municipality applications.
 
The new garage area is mentioned and called, "one of the most complete ever built." It reportedly had a capacity for 50 cars complete with a workshop in each "car compartment."
 
Attachment BrickyardConstructNews101109 contains an October 11, 1909, Indianapolis News article that reaffirms track management's intention to race on November 1st, and also share some interesting illustrative facts about the size of the paving prospects. The article shares the dimensions of the track - 2.5 miles long, 50 feet wide on the stretches, 60 feet in the turns. It also reports that 3.1 million Culver blocks of the Wabash Clay Company were being used in the project. The best information we have today indicates the project eventually required 3.2 million bricks.
 
The bricks were transported in 30 solid trains, which if coupled together would make a continuous train nearly five miles long. The article says that if all the bricks were laid three feet apart on the bed of the Atlantic Ocean they would make stepping stones from the mainland of North America to the coast of Ireland. Laid end-to-end the bricks could cover 453 miles. The line could start in Michigan and extend to the Mississippi state line through Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Piled flat, they could make a column 170 miles high.
 
Loaded in wheelbarrows, 50 blocks in each, 62,000 men would be required to push.  Loaded in wagons 350 blocks each, 8,857 wagons would be required to move the materials. At 30 feet for each wagon and team, the line would extend over 50 miles. Carried in hods and allowing for three feet for each man, the procession would be 352 miles long. This was easily the largest brick pavement job attempted in Indiana up to that time.