| Abstract: | The purpose of the testing reported herein was to assess the performance of Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT's) extra-large mailboxes according to the safety-performance evaluation guidelines included in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) for Test Level Three (TL-3) for support structures. The mailboxes tested were the single extra-large mailbox on Type 4 support, two architectural mailboxes and two medium mailboxes on a bent pipe support, and a single extra-large mailbox on Type 3 support. The single Centennial model #950020B extra-large mailbox on Type 4 support performed acceptably for MASH Test 3-61. The multiple mailboxes on a bent pipe support also showed the installation to performed acceptably for MASH Test 3-61. The windshield of the test vehicle deformed 4.6 inches into the occupant compartment and the laminate was torn during MASH Test 3-61 on the single Centennial model #950020B extra-large mailbox on Type 3 support. The installation failed criterion D of MASH. In a re-test after applying a modification to the connection bracket of the single Centennial model #950020B extra-large mailbox, the Type 3 support performed acceptably for MASH Test 3-61. |
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