in the practice of photogrammetry. This figure increased steadily until in 1955 there were 32 
such firms. It is now estimated that in 1959 there were at least 50 companies. According to 
Prof. Miller's report, in 1955 all private companies combined were responsible for $14,700,000 
worth of photogrammetric services. In addition he also notes that there were $8,300,000 spent 
for commercial aerial photographic services, not including photogrammetric work. It is interest- 
ing to note that of this money spent in 1955, 33% of it came from the U. S. Federal Government, 
27% from State and local governments and 40% from private industry. 
In 1955 as today there were a relatively large number of very small companies and a small 
number of very large companies. Prof. Miller's figures show five companies that did over 
$1,000,000 annual business volume and 21 companies which did less than $100,000 annual busi- 
ness volume. It is believed that since 1955 the number of smaller companies has grown con- 
siderably whereas the number of large companies has more or less maintained themselves in a 
status quo or actually may have been reduced by one or two. 
Private photogrammetric and mapping organizations are commercial entities and as such 
are predicated on showing a profit as the reason for their existence. In the past few years this 
field has become more and more competitive. There are practically no general rules or regu- 
lations governing the behavior of private mapping companies other than those rules applicable 
to the operation of any commercial corporation. Several of the State governments do attempt 
to control mapping companies by insisting that such organizations have their work certified by 
registered professional engineers, however, this is not as yet a common practice. The governing 
dictum is usually the specification for the particular project as prepared and decided by the 
client. The choice of method and procedure is very often left to the mapping organization and 
not included in the specification. Of course in a very competitive situation this can be extremely 
dangerous for the mapping companies may be temptedto work at the very limit of their technical 
capabilities in order to be in a position to quote the lowest possible price. Some clients have 
attempted to avoid this situation by actually specifying the technical procedure to be followed. 
The clientele for private mapping organizations is very much as categorized by Prof. Miller 
in his report; that is, the Federal Government, State and local government and private industry. 
Since Prof. Miller's latest figures (1955) it is quite likely that the percentage of work requested 
by State and local governments and private industry have increased and the work required by the 
Federal government has decreased. Thistrendhastaken place in spite of the fact that some State 
governments are now establishing their own photogrammetric organizations. 
The mapping work accomplished by private organizations is predominantly of the very large 
scale type. These range from scales of 1:12,000 to 1:600, with the most common scales at 
1:2400, 1:1200, and 1:600, with 5-foot, 2-foot, and 1-foot contours respectively. These maps are 
prepared principally for engineering studies and public works, such as highway design, drainage 
studies, city planning, public utility projects, and the like. 
The actual work assignment is obtained in contract form by one of three methods. These 
are open competitive bidding, limited competitive (pre-qualified) bidding, or straight closed 
negotiations. The Federal government and many State and local governments will announce a 
project and request all and any interested companies to submit proposals. The lowest bidder 
will receive the contract unless for obvious reasons the company is unqualified. The limited 
competitive bidding is usually resorted to by some local governments and many commercial 
engineering organizations. Under this procedure several firms are selected who are considered 
to be acceptable to the client.. These firms submit their bids and the successful bidder is 
selected, but not necessarily only on the basis of the lowest bid. Consideration may also be 
given to the technical plan which is to be used. The third procedure, a straight negotiation be- 
tween the client and the photogrammetric company, is not normally used by any public organiza- 
tion but is used by commercial or.private companies who prefer to assign all their mapping 
work to one particular company with whom they have satisfactory relations. 
There has been much public discussion and argument concerning the virtues and faults of the 
various systems for obtaining work. Each of the three methods mentioned above have their ad- 
vocates and their critics. This paper does not preume to discuss this question.