Taking you back to the Second World War

But, on the other hand, here the freezing began early and the ice was the most durable. And in those conditions every day counted. A small army unit under officers L. Sokolov and M. Dmitriyev was the first to lay a road across the ice. Accompanied by two local fishermen, they set out on a trial journey from the western bank on November 15. They walked with ropes tied around their waists, bypassing pools, and putting down stakes to mark the future road. The unit reached the eastern bank safely.
The first car travelled along the ice road on November 21. It was the Deputy Commander of the Front, F. Lagunov, who took the hazardous trip.

And so no one could say for sure how the thickness of its ice was influenced by currents and winds, what loads the ice could sustain and for how long, and so on. And yet the road had to be built, come what may. It was the only way to save Leningrad. Preparations began as far back as October 1941. A series of aerial and hydrological surveys were made, and different methods of road-laying were tested. It was finally decided to build it across the Schlisselburg inlet in the southern part of the lake. This was not the best solution since the Nazi positions were just 12 to 13 kilometres away.