Since the 1930s, Lentransproekt (since 1951 - Lengiprotrans) has been developing methods for strengthening and treating the roadbed on railway lines. Significant work was carried out to strengthen the Volga landslide slopes, primarily the Ulyanovsk and Batrak slopes.
In 1950, the USSR began construction of a cascade of reservoirs and hydroelectric power plants in the Volga basin. In the newly formed Kuibyshev reservoir in the area of the Ulyanovsk slope, the water horizon has risen by 21 m. As a result of the rise in water, landslides have intensified. So, in 1955, a large landslide occurred on the 894–895 km of the Kuibyshev railway. As a matter of urgency, the institute carried out an engineering-geological survey and drew up a project of anti-landslide structures.
