ANALYSIS OF REQUESTED INCREASE

This appropriation finances the extensive field surveys required to provide data for navigational charts, geodetic control, and other products and services supplied by the Bureau. The increasing need for the resulting information justifies an expansion of these surveys, particularly to meet the urgent need for surveys in Alaska and the needs of other agencies using geodetic control data in their operations. For mandatory wage adjustments and to meet a part of this additional work load the following increases are needed:

1. Charting aids for marine and air navigation_.

2. Geodetic control__‒‒‒

3. Earthquake investigation_.

4. Construction projects----.

5. Pay increase, Public Law 429.

$350, 700 275, 900 1,000

85,000

38, 000

Total increases, salaries and expenses, field_---

750, 600

CHARTING AIDS FOR MARINE AND AIR NAVIGATION

Forty-six thousand three hundred dollars to defray a part of the costs of repair, maintenance, and replacement of equipment used by the Arctic field unit. The average life of vehicular equipment in the Arctic is three or four seasons. By 1951 much of this equipment will have had 4 years of hard usage and exposure to the rigors of Arctic weather. First priority needs, to be met in part by these additional funds, are: Replacement of vehicular equipment, such as trucks, tractors, and special vehicles used in snow or tundra, and repair or replacement of special Arctic equipment, such as sleds, portable shelters, etc. Two hundred and sixty thousand dollars for the operation of the ship Surveyor in 1951. This ship was withdrawn from active service in the fall of 1948. Reactivation of this ship in 1951 is necessary if the Bureau is to avoid further arrearages in urgently needed surveys. The strategic importance of Alaskan waters and the urgency of surveys in that region for national defense purposes make it essential to assign this ship to such surveys in 1951. In the coming year the Bureau, at the request of the Department of the Navy, will begin ship surveys in the Arctic, which will further retard the completion of vital surveys in the Aleutian Islands area unless an additional ship is available.

Thirty-five thousand dollars for topographic surveys in Alaska requested by the Department of Defense. These surveys are also essential for nautical and aeronautical chart production and should be expedited. It will require 30 years to complete the topography of the coastal areas.

Nine thousand four hundred dollars is required for within grade salary advancements as prescribed by law.

GEODETIC CONTROL

One hundred sixty-six thousand and three hundred dollars for additional geodetic control surveys in Alaska. The Department of Defense has stressed the importance for military operations of the establishment of control around the perimeter of Alaska, on outlying lands, in various river valleys, and along lines of communication. Areas where work is contemplated in 1951 have been designated as first priority by the Department of Defense and the United States Geological Survey for interior mapping. Military authorities consider it important that necessary surveys in Alaska be completed at an early date. With reference to the work-load statistics, it is estimated that this additional amount will enable the Bureau in 1951 to survey a total area of about 8,600 square miles. At this rate, completion of work in first priority areas will require over 5 years. One hundred thousand dollars for additional control surveys in United States areas where required by the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, and the Geological Survey. It is estimated that this increase will enable the Bureau in 1951 to survey a total area of about 85,000 square miles and to meet about 17 percent of requests for control data in the United States. Work will be accomplished on a priority basis in order to meet the most urgent needs as established through conferences with users.

Nine thousand and six hundred dollars is required for within-grade salary advancements as prescribed by law.

These surveys determine geographic positions (latitude and longitude) of monumented stations and elevations of bench marks. They provide basic data necessary for charting and mapping and are essential for the economic and efficient planning of large-scale engineering projects. Users include the Coast and Geodetic Survey for nautical and aeronautical charting, Geological Survey, and other agencies for topographic mapping, Engineer Corps of the Army, and the Reclamation Bureau for flood control and other conservation and development projects, oil interests for geophysical prospecting for oil, agencies engaged in highway and railroad construction, and many others.

The Survey is the sole agency performing this function in United States areas, and procures and supplies basic control data to all agencies requiring such data. If this information is not available when required, loss of time and uneconomical expenditure of funds are inevitable. The cost of control surveys is less than 1 percent of the total cost of the projects for which they are used.

WORK LOAD

The following work-load statistics show existing conditions with respect to this work. Special attention is directed to columns 2 and 3, showing the increasing needs of other agencies for control data in the United States, and to column 5, showing on a percentage basis the growing inability of the Bureau to meet these needs.