Asphalt Pad for a Cluster Mailbox

A cluster mailbox needs a firm approach and a level standing area so residents and carriers are not in the mud. If the box is on an accessible route, slope and turning space have to meet the current standard. Check the current ADA Standards, the local official, and the postal clearance before you pave.

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What the pad has to do

Cluster boxes collect foot traffic in all weather, plus the carrier's vehicle at the curb. The approach should be firm, and the standing area in front of the boxes should be level enough that people are not twisting on a slope or standing in a puddle. Asphalt can pave the approach and a firm walk up to that standing area. The level pad itself is often concrete, because a very flat surface is easier to hold in concrete than in a thin asphalt lift that follows every wave in the stone. Measure the clearance the postal service wants so box doors open and the carrier can reach the boxes without the new pavement shoving the cluster into the wrong place. Paving first and then discovering a door hits a slope is an expensive order of work.

Slope and access

If the mailbox is on an accessible route, the slope of the standing area and the turning space have to meet the current standard. Check the current ADA Standards and the local official before you pave. A blog is not a legal conclusion, and paint will not fix a pad that is too steep. Accessible stalls and access aisles elsewhere on a site are often kept near 2 percent, about a quarter inch per foot, but the mailbox pad has its own rules in the standard. Read those rules for the route you are building. A steep roadside pull-off may need a leveled bay rather than a wedge of asphalt that simply connects the road to the boxes. Include the paved approach in the area you measure. Do not count only the rectangle under the cabinet.

Tons for the approach

Figure asphalt tons for the part you are actually paving in asphalt. The planning formula is length in feet times width in feet times inches divided by 12, times 145 pounds per cubic foot, divided by 2000. A 6 by 20 foot approach is 120 square feet. At 2 inches, 120 times 2 divided by 12 is 20 cubic feet, times 145 is 2,900 pounds, divided by 2000 is 1.45 tons, about 1.5 tons. That is a planning estimate, and small tons can be a short load with a plant minimum. The plant ticket is the real weight. Concrete for a level standing pad is not part of that asphalt number. Confirm box clearance, door swing, and the accessible slope before the truck is scheduled.

A practical sequence

Confirm postal clearance and door swing before you set the pavement edges.
Check the current ADA Standards and the local official if the route is accessible.
Use a level pad where the standard requires it, and asphalt for the approach.
Order asphalt from the measured approach area and treat tons as a planning estimate.

The mistake to skip

Paving a sloped wedge up to the boxes and assuming paint or a sign makes it accessible.

Questions people ask

Does asphalt meet accessible slope rules by itself?

The material does not. The slope, the turning space, and the route do. Asphalt can be placed flat if the base is flat, but a thin lift often copies the grade under it. Check the current ADA Standards and the local official for the mailbox route you are building. Many sites use concrete for the level standing area and asphalt for the walk or pull-off that leads to it.

How wide should the pad be?

Wide enough for the boxes, the door swing, and the standing or turning space the standard and the postal guidance require. This article does not set that width. Measure the cabinet and the clearance before you pave, and include the approach in the asphalt area. A pad that only covers the footprint of the box leaves residents and the carrier in the mud or in the road.

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