INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Work was halted on a bridge and a highway was shut down for a time Monday morning after construction workers found a suspicious package.

The crew was working on a 39th Street bridge over Missouri Highway 291 when they spotted the package in a pipe at about 8:30 a.m. and called police.

Independence police and members of the Lee's Summit, Mo., bomb squad arrived.

The bomb squad used a robot to blow up the package at about 11:15 a.m.

They didn't immediately say what the package turned out to be, but they said it was harmless.

Authorities shut down the northbound and soundbound lanes of 291 while they investigated.