The laser Doppler vibrometer is a non-contact sensing technique developed based on the Doppler effect of a laser beam emerging from a subject surface. As a vibration transducer, the laser Doppler vibrometer offers many advantages over the conventional contact vibration sensors. It allows remote, non-intrusive measurement of structural vibration and it is very useful in scenarios when traditional contacting measurement is inconvenient. In this paper, four laser-based structural dynamic studies were presented and some results were briefly reported, which include laboratory dynamic testing of a bolted steel beam, a scaled-down high-rise building model, and a prestressed concrete reaction wall, and field vibration measurement of a viaduct bridge. Through these demonstrating cases, it is anticipated to help civil engineers get familiar with the laser-based sensing technology and to extend their selections for effective measurement approaches during experimental research.