Exhibit 31.2

                     Certification under Section 302 of the
                           Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, David J. Russo, Senior Vice President,  Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
of L. B. Foster Company, certify that:

          1.   I have  reviewed  this  Quarterly  Report  on Form  10-Q of L. B.
               Foster Company;

          2.   Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any
               untrue  statement of a material  fact or omit to state a material
               fact  necessary  to make  the  statements  made,  in light of the
               circumstances  under which  statements  were made, not misleading
               with respect to the period covered by this quarterly report;

          3.   Based  on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other
               financial  information included in this quarterly report,  fairly
               present in all material respects the financial condition, results
               of  operations  and cash flows of the  registrant as of, and for,
               the periods presented in this quarterly report;

          4.   The registrant's  other certifying  officer and I are responsible
               for   establishing  and  maintaining   disclosure   controls  and
               procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules  13a-15(e) and 15d -
               15(e)) for the registrant and we have:

               (a)  Designed such disclosure controls and procedures,  or caused
                    such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                    our  supervision,   to  ensure  that  material   information
                    relating  to  the  registrant,  including  its  consolidated
                    subsidiaries,  is made  known to us by others  within  those
                    entities,  particularly  during  the  period  in which  this
                    quarterly report is being prepared;

               (b)  Evaluated the  effectiveness of the registrant's  disclosure
                    controls and  procedures  and  presented  in this  quarterly
                    report  our  conclusions  about  the  effectiveness  of  the
                    disclosure  controls  and  procedures,  as of the end of the
                    period  covered by this report  based upon such  evaluation;
                    and

               (c)  Disclosed  in  this  quarterly  report  any  change  in  the
                    registrant's  internal control over financial reporting that
                    occurred during the registrant's  most recent fiscal quarter
                    (the  registrant's  fourth fiscal  quarter in the case of an
                    annual   report)  that  has  materially   affected,   or  is
                    reasonably  likely to materially  affect,  the  registrant's
                    internal control over financial reporting; and

          5.   The registrant's  other certifying  officer and I have disclosed,
               based on our most  recent  evaluation  of internal  control  over
               financial reporting,  to the registrant's  auditors and the audit
               committee  of the  registrant's  board of  directors  (or persons
               performing the equivalent function):

               (a)  All significant  deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                    design or  operation  of  internal  control  over  financial
                    reporting  which are reasonably  likely to adversely  affect
                    the registrant's ability to record,  process,  summarize and
                    report financial information; and

               (b)  Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                    or  other  employees  who  have a  significant  role  in the
                    registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

May 10, 2004                             /s/David J. Russo
                                         --------------------------
                                         Name: David J. Russo
                                         Title: Senior Vice President,
                                         Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer