Sept. 16, 1909
Bricks it is!
To the absolute elation of the representatives of the National Paving Brick Manufacturers Association, Speedway management has agreed to their suggestion. A veritable army of workmen will embark immediately on the ambitious task of paving the entire 2 1/2-mile oval with street-paving bricks, the eventual number to be around 3,200,000.
The present surface of crushed rock and tar will be subjected yet again to a treatment by the heavy rollers, after which several inches of sand will be placed on top of it. Into the bed of sand, the bricks will be laid on their sides and staggered in rows, with a small separation deliberately left on all four sides of each brick. Once a section has been declared completely flat, mortar will be poured into the separations for the purpose of ensuring as strong a surface as possible.
The estimated cost of the job is $180,000, of which $30,000 is just for the cement alone. It has been an expensive few months for the track's four owners, this latest expenditure bringing their total investment up to around $700,000.
The company winning the bid to supply the bricks is the Wabash Clay Company in Veedersburg, Ind., not far from the Illinois border. Producer of the Culver Block, it is company owner and block designer Reuben Culver himself who personally signed the final proposal on behalf of his company two days ago, while Fisher and Allison sign the acceptance today.
Many carloads of brick already have been delivered by rail, shipped directly from Culver's siding over in Veedersburg and then unloaded and transferred to horse-drawn flatbeds at the station directly across from the track's main entrance at what eventually will become the corner of West 16th Street and Georgetown Road. The plan is for 20 carloads to arrive daily, the goal being to have the last brick delivered by the end of this month, just two weeks from now. A really ambitious projection has the entire job being completed in just three weeks!
Reuben Culver will immediately increase his workforce to 200.
Working closely with the track's P. T. Andrews will be W. T. Blackburn of Paris, Ill., Major Edward L. Middleton of Indianapolis and William Blair of St. Louis, who is believed to have been the person who so thoroughly convinced Fisher that bricking the track was the best solution.
Much interest has already been shown in non-racing areas, representatives of several major cities in other states planning to be on the grounds over the next few weeks to observe the work with a view to possibly paving the streets of their own cities in this fashion. Six delegates will be coming in from the United Brick Association of America to work with Andrews and they will stay until the work is completed. Andrews says the actual work of laying the bricks probably will be performed by three or four contractors, Frank Meredith of Terre Haute already appearing to be one of them.
Work on the infield road course has been halted for a while, but the suggestion is made that when completed, the surface will still be of the dreaded crushed rock and tar, rather than bricks, so that it will resemble a country road.
Bricks it is!
To the absolute elation of the representatives of the National Paving Brick Manufacturers Association, Speedway management has agreed to their suggestion. A veritable army of workmen will embark immediately on the ambitious task of paving the entire 2 1/2-mile oval with street-paving bricks, the eventual number to be around 3,200,000.
The present surface of crushed rock and tar will be subjected yet again to a treatment by the heavy rollers, after which several inches of sand will be placed on top of it. Into the bed of sand, the bricks will be laid on their sides and staggered in rows, with a small separation deliberately left on all four sides of each brick. Once a section has been declared completely flat, mortar will be poured into the separations for the purpose of ensuring as strong a surface as possible.
The estimated cost of the job is $180,000, of which $30,000 is just for the cement alone. It has been an expensive few months for the track's four owners, this latest expenditure bringing their total investment up to around $700,000.
The company winning the bid to supply the bricks is the Wabash Clay Company in Veedersburg, Ind., not far from the Illinois border. Producer of the Culver Block, it is company owner and block designer Reuben Culver himself who personally signed the final proposal on behalf of his company two days ago, while Fisher and Allison sign the acceptance today.
Many carloads of brick already have been delivered by rail, shipped directly from Culver's siding over in Veedersburg and then unloaded and transferred to horse-drawn flatbeds at the station directly across from the track's main entrance at what eventually will become the corner of West 16th Street and Georgetown Road. The plan is for 20 carloads to arrive daily, the goal being to have the last brick delivered by the end of this month, just two weeks from now. A really ambitious projection has the entire job being completed in just three weeks!
Reuben Culver will immediately increase his workforce to 200.
Working closely with the track's P. T. Andrews will be W. T. Blackburn of Paris, Ill., Major Edward L. Middleton of Indianapolis and William Blair of St. Louis, who is believed to have been the person who so thoroughly convinced Fisher that bricking the track was the best solution.
Much interest has already been shown in non-racing areas, representatives of several major cities in other states planning to be on the grounds over the next few weeks to observe the work with a view to possibly paving the streets of their own cities in this fashion. Six delegates will be coming in from the United Brick Association of America to work with Andrews and they will stay until the work is completed. Andrews says the actual work of laying the bricks probably will be performed by three or four contractors, Frank Meredith of Terre Haute already appearing to be one of them.
Work on the infield road course has been halted for a while, but the suggestion is made that when completed, the surface will still be of the dreaded crushed rock and tar, rather than bricks, so that it will resemble a country road.
