Upper Atbara and Setit Dam Complex for local agriculture, supplying potable water, and power generation. The project also aimed to increase agriculture production in the New Halfa area of Kassala currently irrigated by the Khashm el-Girba Dam, and the development of new land consisting of in Upper Atbara. Additionally, the dams are expected to provide flood-protection measures along the river banks by regulating the river flow in the project area. The total cost of the dam complex is estimated at $1.9 billion, of which $838 million for the construction of the dams is from the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) and its overseas project-contracting subsidiary, China
Three Gorges with terrain lowering gradually from south to north. The western and eastern parts of the area, between the southern mountains and Bashan Mountain (), in the north, are comparatively lower; and in the past, the river flowed to the east through the region. As the crust of the locality continued to rise, the river's erosion intensified, and the Three Gorges were carved. The natural beauty of the Three Gorges along the Yangtze River has been appreciated for hundreds of years. In the Northern Wei (北魏) dynasty, Li Daoyuan (郦道元) described them in his work "Shui Jing Zhu" (水经注), or the