Abstract: A method for determining remaining operational life of elastic cables composed of individual filaments, including establishing a fatigue curve for the cable filaments, producing a test cable from the cable material, determining the minimum breaking load of test cable sections, placing the test cable adjacent to an elastic cable, removing sections at prescribed time intervals and determining the minimum breaking load for each to form a coefficient A with reference to the original minimum breaking load of the sections and establishing an environment-dependent curve against time from all coefficients A, associating with each coefficient A a coefficient B that, for the removal time, is determined from the fatigue curve based on a load spectrum, multiplying coefficients A and B together to form reduction factors, after the test phase dismantling the elastic cable, determining its remaining strength and comparing it with the original minimum breaking load to form an actual reduction factor, forming current reductio