We are building a mailbox center for 4 condos. It will be 2 posts, a beam at approx 42" high to hold the mailboxes and a beam at the top which is 8' high. Posts are 5'6" out to out. It looks kind of like a torii gate, but not really.
My question is who has a brilliantly simple and elegant idea about how to keep it standing up. We're going to have a concrete footing for each post and are thinking something like angle iron up the 2 outside corners of each post. Since this is for a friend, there is probably not enough money in the budget to conceal the connectors, unless it's a really clever and simple idea, which I have been unable to come up with today. (Too much turkey for lunch).

Thanks

Gabel Holder

ps: I know the posts shouldn't touch the concrete, but I am not crazy about any of the 15 ways I have come up with to keep the post off the ground/concrete. Any ideas?

i think your angle iron idea would work fine...
assemble the unit, including angle irons and throw it all into the wet cement? Or assemble and temporarily brace then pour around the angles? (you should be able to leave the post bottoms off the concrete if the angles are long and strong enough)
why is there another beam at 8 feet?
-mark