Last winter a asphalt tank at our company's oil terminal let go at a seam that was rusted out. The dike wall contained the asphalt but without the heating coils in the tank, it solidified in the cold weather.

We had a wall of asphalt 10' high that felt that frozen molasses. We faced a major problem. Luckily, we were able to run steam through some coils we placed on top of hardend asphalt and get it flowing enough to pump it to a secure tank. The real work came at the bottom of the tank where the coils couldn't get down to. We had a bobcat lifting asphalt into a heating tank. The bobcat was so dirty that the rental company wouldn't take it back. Three workers then shoveled and power washed the remainder of the asphault. Needless to say, this is a very dirty job.....