Meet David Tourje of Alpha Structural in Eagle Rock

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Tourje.

Thanks for sharing your story with us David. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in the hills of Northeast LA, I was lucky to have friends that were older than me that were in construction who I followed around during the late 70s helping them and making spare change. Eventually I became a journeyman carpenter myself by age 23. Being in the hills, I did a lot of hillside type work such as decks, etc. By the mid 80s, I was becoming expert at very advanced foundation systems for hillside structures. These are known today as caisson grade beam, or deep foundation systems.

By 1988, I became the “go to” guy in LA for the most advanced hillside foundation installations. I became a licensed contractor in 1988 and continued in this regard adding landslide repairs and other structural repairs and upgrades to my repertoire. When new construction stopped during the economic crash of 1992, I focused all of my efforts and energy to repair and upgrade of existing foundations and structures, mainly in the hillsides of LA. That has expanded ever since then into what it is today, over 125 staff, 35 crews and the only company in LA authorized to engineer and build what we do in house.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was absolutely not an easy road. The construction industry is a very difficult one to master. There are many ups and downs regardless of the overall economy, and many ways one can lose money and lose the game. I was lucky to weather a number of storms and somehow survive and eventually thrive in it, fully mastering my trade and organization.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Alpha Structural – what should we know?
As mentioned, what sets us apart is that we are authorized to engineer AND build. I have an art and design background in addition to construction, thus from the beginning I was redesigning many of the plans that were handed to me to build. I finally brought it in house in the early 90s and never looked back.

Our specialties and pioneering designs include: Soft Story retrofitting, deep foundations with cantilevered grade beams, secondary “sister” foundations, seismic retrofits, landslide repairs and retaining walls. I am personally most proud of being part of the innovation of designs now considered standards in my industry and to have worked with some of the great engineers of the last 50 years.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
The most important thing is to always give customers more than they pay for. This can be done in many ways, including caring more, cleaning up better, being pleasant and effective. Doing the work you are contracted to do is a given, leaving a lasting impression of goodwill is what we strive for.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1638 Colorado Blvd
  Los Angeles, CA 90041
• Website: www.alphastructural.com
• Phone: 323-258-5482
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/alphastructural

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.