Free Journeyman Well Driller Written Examination Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the Journeyman Well Driller Written Examination practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1During cable-tool drilling, the bit has broken rock at the bottom of a water-well borehole. How should the driller remove the resulting cuttings?

   1. A. Circulate mud down the drill pipe and return cuttings up the annulus.
   2. B. Add water to form a slurry and periodically remove it with a bailer.
   3. C. Circulate fluid down the annulus and return cuttings up the drill pipe.
   4. D. Inject compressed air through the bit and lift cuttings in the annulus.

   Answer: B

   Explanation: The USGS describes cable-tool cuttings as forming "a slurry that is removed with a bailer." The other choices describe circulation routes used with rotary or air drilling, whereas the cable-tool method lifts the slurry out intermittently.

   Reference: USGS, Basic Elements of Ground-Water Hydrology With Reference to Conditions in North Carolina — p. 61, Water-Well Drilling Methods

2. 2A mud-rotary crew is drilling unconsolidated material before casing is installed. Which wall-control result should its drilling mud provide?

   1. A. Carry cuttings to the surface and lubricate the rotating drill string.
   2. B. Cool the cutting bit and lubricate its roller-cone bearings.
   3. C. Form a low-permeability cake that limits fluid loss and helps prevent caving.
   4. D. Keep drilled cuttings suspended within the mud column in the borehole.

   Answer: C

   Explanation: USGS lists "build a filter cake on the hole wall preventing fluid loss" and "support and prevent caving of the wall of the hole" among drilling-mud functions. A and B are different mud functions; D is the mud's cuttings-suspension function. Only C gives the requested wall-control effect.

   Reference: USGS, Application of Drilling, Coring, and Sampling Techniques to Test Holes and Wells — p. 19, Drilling Mud

3. 3A crew must choose screen-slot and sand-pack sizes for a well in unconsolidated sand. Which field result should anchor those two size choices?

   1. A. A pumping test that estimates drawdown at the proposed discharge rate.
   2. B. A borehole caliper log showing the drilled hole's diameter by depth.
   3. C. A water analysis describing the aquifer's dissolved mineral content.
   4. D. A grain-size analysis of samples from the producing formation.

   Answer: D

   Explanation: EPA recommends "Grain-size analyses of unconsolidated formation samples" to determine appropriate "slot and sandpack sizes." Pumping tests, caliper logs, and water analyses provide different design information but do not characterize the formation grain distribution needed for these two sizes.

   Reference: EPA, Design Guidelines for Conventional Pump-and-Treat Systems — p. 21, Extraction Well Design

4. 4A planned well will draw from a highly laminated, fine-grained unconsolidated formation. Natural-pack criteria would require slots so small that water transmission is restricted. Which completion is the best choice?

   1. A. A naturally developed screen sized directly to the formation grains
   2. B. A perforated-casing intake relying on the native formation pack
   3. C. A driven well-point intake relying on the native formation pack
   4. D. A screened completion with an engineered artificial filter pack

   Answer: D

   Explanation: EPA states, "Use of an artificial filter pack is advantageous when the geologic materials are highly laminated; highly uniform, fine-grained deposits" and when natural-pack slots would restrict transmission. A, B, and C rely on native material around the intake rather than the engineered pack needed for this stated condition.

   Reference: EPA, Design Guidelines for Conventional Pump-and-Treat Systems — p. 21, Extraction Well Design

5. 5A crew wants to drill and advance casing at the same time by using a bit that opens wider than the casing and then retracts. Which method matches that description?

   1. A. Underreaming
   2. B. Cable-tool percussion
   3. C. Reverse circulation
   4. D. Jet drilling

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The rule defines the method directly: "Underreamer: Method of drilling borehole, and installing casing at the same time." The expanding and retracting bit therefore describes underreaming.

   Reference: 144 C 232 Rules — 10-144 CMR Ch. 232 §101.0, Underreamer

6. 6A crew circulates clay-bearing fluid down the drill pipe and returns it with cuttings up the annular space. Which drilling arrangement is the crew using?

   1. A. Reverse-circulation rotary drilling
   2. B. Air-rotary drilling
   3. C. Normal hydraulic-rotary drilling
   4. D. Cable-tool percussion drilling

   Answer: C

   Explanation: The USGS states that in the "normal-rotary" method fluid goes "down the drill pipe" and returns "up the annular space." Reverse rotary sends fluid down the annulus and up the pipe; air rotary uses air, and cable-tool drilling removes slurry with a bailer.

   Reference: USGS, Basic Elements of Ground-Water Hydrology With Reference to Conditions in North Carolina — p. 61, Water-Well Drilling Methods

7. 7During mud-rotary drilling in loose sediment, circulation is being lost and the borehole wall needs stabilization. In the documented USGS field procedure, which fluid property was deliberately varied to address both problems?

   1. A. The fluid's viscosity during circulation
   2. B. The fluid's sand content during circulation
   3. C. The fluid's density during circulation
   4. D. The fluid's gel strength during circulation

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The USGS field report says, "The viscosity of the fluid was varied during drilling to control the circulation loss of drilling fluid and to stabilize the borehole wall when drilling in unconsolidated materials." Sand content, density, and gel strength are distinct mud properties; this specific adjustment was to viscosity.

   Reference: USGS, Water-Resources Investigations Report 98-4184, Well Drilling Procedures — Drilling Procedures, mud-rotary paragraph

8. 8For an artificial filter-packed well, what fraction of the placed sand-pack material does the cited EPA guidance typically size the screen slots to retain?

   1. A. About 70 percent of the sand-pack grains
   2. B. About 80 percent of the sand-pack grains
   3. C. About 90 percent of the sand-pack grains
   4. D. About 95 percent of the sand-pack grains

   Answer: C

   Explanation: EPA says, "The screen slot size is then typically selected to retain 90 percent of the sandpack." The question asks for that typical target, so 70, 80, and 95 percent are different targets, even though they are plausible values a designer might confuse with it.

   Reference: EPA, Design Guidelines for Conventional Pump-and-Treat Systems — p. 21, Extraction Well Design

9. 9A designer has selected a pump to deliver the target yield and must also install downhole instruments. Which factor should determine a sufficient well-casing diameter?

   1. A. The pump and instrument dimensions needed at the design yield.
   2. B. The slot width selected to retain the annular filter material.
   3. C. The grain diameter selected for the artificial filter pack.
   4. D. The depth chosen for the annular seal above the screen.

   Answer: A

   Explanation: EPA says, "The well diameter must be large enough to accommodate the pump and other downhole instrumentation." It also relates casing size to the pump required for desired yield. Slot width, pack gradation, and seal depth are real design inputs but do not set the physical clearance required inside the casing.

   Reference: EPA, Design Guidelines for Conventional Pump-and-Treat Systems — p. 20, Extraction Well Design

10. 10A Maine contractor is starting a rotary-drilled bedrock well with steel casing. What must be fitted to assist in sealing the casing into bedrock?

    1. A. A road box or sanitary cover
    2. B. A drive shoe or coupling
    3. C. A screen or perforated liner
    4. D. A surge block or bailer

    Answer: B

    Explanation: Section 401.4 states, "Drive shoe or coupling shall be used for all rotary drilled wells to assist in sealing the casing into bedrock when steel casing is used."

    Reference: 144 C 232 Rules — 10-144 CMR Ch. 232 §401.4