But the scale is also a bit different. I sometimes do optical measurements for colleagues who are researching new types of concrete reinforcement. While for things like composites we typically use samples that are at most few centimetres wide, they use 4 meter beams and for some other samples loads as high as 600 tonnes are not unheard of. When something goes wrong with such experiment, things get really interesting:
On the photo there’s a 4 meter wide basalt reinforced beam that slipped out of the testing machine and is flying forward, soon to cause a lot of destruction 
Also, I’ve once did measurements during stress tests of a new bridge. They loaded it with about 18 trucks loaded with sand. The scale is really impressive.
