Sentence:  All this time I worked very hard [...] and it is scarce credible what inexpressible labour everything was done with, especially the bringing <WSD>piles</WSD> out of the woods and driving them into the ground; for I made them much bigger than I needed to have done. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A large stake, or piece of pointed timber, steel etc., driven into the earth or sea-bed for the support of a building, a pier, or other superstructure, or to form a cofferdam, etc.